Reunion
by luvinoth1
Summary: After their HS graduation the core 5 vowed on the rivercourt to stay friends forever. But that didn’t happen and ten years later, after all returned to Tree Hill for their HS reunion, one of them is murdered and the only suspects…are the other four.
1. High School Reunion

**Reunion**

A/N: So…I'm pretty upset and sometimes when I get upset I get inspired and it looks like I did because here's a new story! I swear this is the last new one I'll post because I seriously must finish the other billion I started. This fic will be dark, dramatic and suspenseful, because well…that's the kind of writer I am. Ok…have any of you ever heard of the fox show Reunion? Too bad if you didn't, it was brilliant…even though it was cancelled early. Anyways…this story is inspired partly by the show. The year is 2017 and the Tree Hill class of 2007 is returning for their ten year reunion. The core five left Tree Hill after their senior year to pursue their endeavors, but vowed to stay best friends forever. That, however, didn't happen. Ten years later it's clear almost all are at each others throats and that their relationships with one another are either completely shattered or on the verge of becoming as much. So does it seem shocking that when one of the five is found shot to death, the only suspects are the remaining four? Sure they hate each other, but come on…none would take it that far, right? But…what if they were all caught at the scene of the crime, the only ones…and all were found surrounding the dead body...and all of their prints were the only ones found all over the gun? Hmm. So…who was murdered? Was it Brooke, Nathan, Peyton, Lucas or Haley? Who pulled the trigger and why? Read and find out! – Jasmine

Oh and FYI everything from season 1-4 counts, but that's all. I'll take some things from season 5, but not everything. And lastly, the s4 finale…the final scene when everyone is at the Rivercourt…pretend it was just the core five ok? Ok.

**High School Reunion**

_June 2007_

"_Look in a few years we're going to be right back here. You know…done with college or…wherever we go. Right?!" Lucas asked around, seeking confirmation._

_Nathan, Peyton, Brooke and Haley all nodded their heads in agreement. "Yeah!"_

"_So…we're not gonna do this." Brooke said putting on a smiley face. "We're not gonna get sad. Nothing's going to change now. We'll all be friends forever. I know it."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

_June 2017_

"Peyton Sawyer is that you!?"

Peyton turned around and came face to face with Mouth. She engulfed him in a huge bear hug. "Mouth! It's so good to see you! It's been…WAY too long! How are you?"

"Really good." Mouth said smiling. "Man, I'm so glad you came! I wasn't entirely sure if you'd be coming or not. I know events like these aren't really your thing."

"I almost didn't." Peyton admitted.

Mouth nodded. "Well…I'm really happy you ended up changing your mind. So…anyways…how are you?"

"Good…I'm good." Peyton said, though she quickly changed the subject. "I…I caught you on sportscenter the other day! Your dream…it finally came true. I bet you're so stoked right now!"

"I am." Mouth replied beaming. "I couldn't be happier. But I don't want to talk about me. How is everything with you? Judging by the size of that rock on your hand I'd say things are going pretty good. Who's the lucky guy?"

Peyton looked down at her engagement ring and smiled softly. "His name's Julian. And things are well. We're getting married next fall."

"That's great." Mouth said nodding. "Well…I'd like to stay and chat with you some more but I see someone waiting to talk to you so um…I'll let you go. We'll catch up more later."

Mouth nodded over at the figure behind Peyton and walked off. Peyton turned around to see who exactly he had been talking about and her cheery grin instantly left her face as she noticed Lucas approaching her.

"Peyton…"

"Lucas…"

They stared into each other's eyes for a long while before Lucas finally spoke. "You're not staying?"

Peyton eyed him curiously. "Why would you think---"

"You're still wearing your coat." Lucas said cutting her off.

"Oh…" Peyton said, pausing momentarily to clear her throat. "No, I'm not leaving. I haven't even been here all that long. I'm just…a little cold is all."

Lucas nodded. "Oh."

There was a couple of minutes of awkward silence. Lucas scanned Peyton from head to toe. He then stared long and hard at the engagement ring on her finger before finally speaking. "Nice ring."

Peyton sighed. "Thanks."

Lucas was about to say something else when he was interrupted by a voice calling out to Peyton.

"Peyton!"

Lucas turned to his right, and Peyton to her left and the two came face to face with Haley. Peyton's eyes turned angry and her face bright red. She grabbed a drink from a nearby server and walked away.

Haley sighed. "I don't even know why I bothered…"

"I don't know why either." Lucas said as he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair. "Because you and I both know…you're just wasting your time. Really…just give it up Haley. Just give it up."

Lucas shook his head and sauntered off. He began fiddling with a loose button on his shirt and inadvertently smacked into a woman reentering the crowded hall from the bathroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ms. I didn't see you...wait, Brooke?"

The beautiful brunette stared long and hard at the blue-eyed guy standing in front of her before clearing her throat and speaking. "Drop dead Lucas."

Brooke then trotted off in the opposite direction. She headed over to the punch table and filled up a cup. Brooke took a sip of her drink; her brown eyes began to scan the room but stopped when they came into contact with a familiar set of green ones. Peyton and Brooke gazed at each other for a long while before Peyton finally gave Brooke a small little wave. Brooke gave her a quick half-hearted smile and watched as Peyton walked off to another part of the hall.

Peyton sat down in an empty chair, covered her face with her hands and just shook her head. She then suddenly felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

"You're in my seat."

She turned around and saw that it was Nathan. "Oh, I didn't know. Do you want me to---"

"Get up?" asked an irritated Nathan. "Yeah…I do."

Peyton slowly nodded her head and got up from the chair and wandered off. Nathan sat down in the seat vacated by Peyton and put his beer on the table next to him. He whipped out his phone and began texting. After a long while, he finally finished and he went to place his phone back in his pocket and took a sip of his drink. He then stretched and got up from his spot at the table. He made his way outside, toward the hall's empty back parking lot to get some fresh air and noticed Haley standing, all by herself. She was leaning up against the wall, absentmindedly playing around with her wedding band.

"I guess you needed to come out and get some air too, huh?"

A somewhat startled Haley turned to her right and faced Nathan. She nodded, but remained quiet.

Nathan started to say something but he was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

Haley rolled her eyes. "You should get that."

She then brushed passed Nathan and made her way back into the hall. Nathan picked up his phone and answered it. He talked into his cell for a good while before finally hanging up. Just as he started to make his way back into the building, Brooke and Mouth were heading out.

Brooke and Nathan both stopped and stared at each other for a minute. He smiled at Mouth, gave Brooke a small nod, and then continued on his way.

Brooke then made her way toward the side of the building and leaned her head on the brick wall. Mouth joined her and leaned his head against the bricks as well.

She looked up and stared into the night sky. "We're not gonna get sad. Nothing's going to change now. We'll all be friends forever. I know it."

Brooke turned and faced Mouth. "I said those words the last night Peyton, Lucas, Haley, Nathan and I were in Tree Hill before…you know…before we left to go start the beginning of the rest of our lives. Boy did I predict wrong."

"I know high school friendships normally don't last forever, but never did I think that the 'fab five' would cease to exist." Mouth said sighing. "Not until I got here and witnessed all the hostility and awkwardness between Peyton and Haley…you and Lucas…and so on and so forth. What …what really happened to you guys Brooke? What could've POSSIBLY happened to cause you all to fall apart and break away from each other?"

"A lot of things." Brooke stated honestly. "Lies, betrayal…heartbreak…and so much more."

"But you all decided to come to the ten year reunion…knowing that there was a chance you might run into each other." Mouth pointed out. "I'm sure you all wouldn't have decided to come if you didn't at least hope there might be some chance of reconciliation between at least some of you guys."

"Perhaps that's what some might secretly be hoping for." Brooke said, slowly nodding her head. "Or perhaps there's another reason."

Mouth raised an eyebrow. "Like what? Revenge?"

Brooke remained eerily quiet for a long while before responding cryptically. "Perhaps."

She then leaned in and gave Mouth a kiss on the cheek and reentered into the hall.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Four days later…_

Detective Moore sighed as he plopped down at his office desk. He looked up at Officer Riley and motioned for him to enter into the room and to close the door behind him. "I still can't believe it."

Riley shook his head. "Neither can I. Shot to death in the stomach…in cold blood---"

"Most likely by a ---at least at one time---close, close friend." Moore said interrupting. "It's such a shame."

"You really positive it was one of the four though? I mean…when we first saw them…they all seemed so sad."

Moore nodded. "It has to be! They were the only ones found at the scene of the crime. All four of their prints were found on the gun and theirs were the only ones. Plus from what I've heard through several sources…those four…maybe some of them a bit more than others but…they all had a reason for perhaps wanting our victim dead. One of them was shedding crocodile tears…I know it. I just gotta figure out which one and why exactly no one has come right out and implicated one of the others to try and save their ass. Maybe it's because...I don't know...while only one might've actually pulled the trigger...they were all somehow involved in the plotting and execution of the murder."

Riley slowly nodded his head. "I see."

"It still baffles me how those four managed to get out on bail!" Moore yelled out angrily. He then glanced down at his watch. "I seriously need to start talking to them ASAP so this investigation can really get underway. And damn…suspect #1 is now officially late."

"That's actually why I came in here to talk to you." Riley said as he readjusted the pen in his left shirt pocket. "The front desk wanted me to tell you that suspect #1 called and is coming over now and should be here very shortly."

Moore nodded. "Good. Page me down to the interrogation room when she's here."

"Will do sir."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

A teary-eyed Peyton began fumbling with her engagement ring. She looked up and sighed.

"I'm not…entirely sure how this works or how I…should start so umm…"

She paused, momentarily, to wipe away her tears and then continued. "I'm sorry…it's just. This is all…really hard to talk about. But umm…so I…I guess I'll just start by explaining why I came back to Tree Hill for the reunion. I thought that…I suppose I thought that coming back would...heal a part of my soul that hasn't been right in a …really long time now but…seeing everyone…it hurt a lot more than I thought it would and coming back…was obviously a mistake."

Peyton sniffed and blinked back some more tears.

"That night on the Rivercourt…back in 2007…before everyone went off to college, work or what not…we all vowed to stay friends for ever. Never did I think for a second that me and my four best friends wouldn't stay best friends. Never. But the next day…when we all left to follow the paths we felt necessary to take…was the day things started to change. I wouldn't say that 2008 was the year my relationships with Brooke, Lucas, Nathan and Haley completely hit the fan but a lot of things happened that year that…I don't know. I guess in retrospect I…I now realize that 08 was in many ways the beginning of the end…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**PLEASE READ (sorry it's so long)**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. So…at the Tree Hill High's Class of 2007's ten year reunion, it looked like there was some awkwardness and tension between Lucas and Peyton. They were together and happy ten years ago but clearly…things changed and Peyton moved on. But what happened? While Peyton was definitely not thrilled to see Lucas, she was down right furious when she came face to face with Haley. And Lucas doesn't seem all that fond of Haley either…but didn't get AS upset as Peyton did when she saw her. As for Naley…it looks like they're still married, at least technically anyways…but there's definitely something not quite right there either. Haley seemed agitated with Nathan, but who knows why. And it looks like Nathan might have a problem with Peyton. And for some reason Brooke can't stand Lucas. As for Brooke/Peyton…well while the two didn't display any hatred toward each other, they didn't try and talk to each other either so it doesn't like their BFF's anymore. Brooke/Nathan? Again no signs of hostility were displayed, yet…they weren't jumping for joy to see each other. As for where Lucas/Nathan and Brooke/Haley stand? That hasn't been made clear yet. So…each chapter…maybe two…will focus on a past year and each year will be seen through a different character perspective. Also thrown in between the past reflections will be the present day. Through out the stories, shocking reveals will be made. Gradually you'll learn who's all alive. One by one the four remaining members of the core five will be revealed. So...my question for you all…who do you think is the murder victim and why was this person killed and by whom? What were the core five doing together the night of the murder? Do you think the shooting could've been accidental or was it intentional? Please review with your thoughts/comments! – Jasmine**

**Next time…**

**Peyton tells us about 2008**


	2. Were'd You Go?

**Where'd You Go?**

A/N: Okay so here are some minor things ya'll will need to know. Like on the show, Lucas, Nathan and Haley all go to the same college. In my story, they are still in North Carolina, but hours away from Tree Hill. Nathan and Haley obviously live together. Lucas has his own apartment not too far away from them. Peyton and Brooke go to California together, but Brooke doesn't stay long and ends up leaving for NYC. Ok…I think that's it. I hope you guys like the chapter! - Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Los Angeles 2009…_

"Hey stranger."

_"Oh I'm a stranger now, huh?" Peyton asked, as she placed her cell on her desk and put Lucas on speaker phone. "All because we haven't spoken in a day or so?"_

"A day or so? Peyton, it's been a week since we last talked. I've tried---"

_Peyton sighed. "I know you have. It's me who hasn't and I'm sorry. I've just been so busy here at work."_

"I know and it's okay. Believe me, I understand."

_Peyton smiled. "I love you, you know that?"_

"I know. And I love you too. And I can't wait to see you this weekend. I have got an amazing couple of days planned for us. What time are you going to want me to pick you up at the airport Friday?"

_Peyton remained silent._

"Peyt? Did you hear me?"

_"Yeah…"_

"So…what time?"

_"Lucas, I know you had this…elaborate weekend planned for us…for weeks now, but…I…"_

Lucas sighed. "You what Peyton?"

_"I…I can't go. I…I promised my boss I'd go to San Diego this weekend to help with---"_

"But why would you make a promise like that when you knew we had plans?!"

_Peyton once again went quiet._

"It's because you forgot." _Lucas said answering his own question._ "It had completely slipped your mind until I had mentioned am I right?"

_Peyton was about to respond to his words when she heard her office phone ringing. She glanced over at the I.D. "Lucas…I gotta go. The phone's ringing and---"_

"Then go and answer it." _Lucas said interrupting._

_"I'll call--"_

_Peyton's voice trailed off as she noticed that Lucas had hung up. She shook her head, placed her cell on the desk and picked up the office phone._

_Back in North Carolina, Lucas threw his cell on his bed and sighed. He then walked over to his nightstand and opened it up. He pulled out a ring box. He opened it, took out the ring and held it up._

_"So much for proposing this weekend."_

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

_North Carolina…_

_Haley sighs as she places a sleeping Jamie in his crib. "Nathan, I have a ton of homework to do. Two papers to write, a 400 page book to read and a test to study for. You said you'd stay here with Jamie while I went to the library."_

_"Why can't you just do your work here at the apartment?" Nathan asked as he followed his wife out into the kitchen._

_Haley glared at her husband. "Because I need to go to the library! If I didn't have to, I wouldn't be going."_

_"Well…" Nathan thought aloud. "Why don't we call up Lucas? I'm sure he'd watch Jamie."_

_Haley shook her head. "Not an option considering the fact that he's M.I.A at the moment. He must've had an argument with Peyton or something. It's the only time he ignores everybody and shuts out the world."_

_"Ok…then we'll call and get a babysitter."_

_Haley laughed. "And pay her with what? Monopoly money?"_

_Nathan rolled his eyes. "Haley I'd stay with him, but---"_

_"But nothing. You said that you would."_

_Nathan shook his head. "I have to go to this party Haley. It's important. A whole bunch of Division I college scouts are going to be there…not to mention a couple of NBA scouts. And their expecting to see me. I have to go. Just…please stay here with Jamie tonight. I promise the next time you want to---"_

_"Don't." Haley said interrupting. "Don't make promises you have no intention to keep. I'm sure next week you'll have to go and meet with this assistant coach and the following week you'll have an invitation to meet up with another team's coach or athletic director. It never ends!"_

_Nathan was about to respond, but Haley continued on._

_"Go Nathan!" Haley said. "I'll stay here with our son. I'll fail my test, turn two crappy papers in late, if at all, and I'll walk into my literature class tomorrow unprepared to lead my discussion." _

_"Haley don't---"_

_"Leave Nathan. Just leave."_

_"I won't be out too late." Nathan said as he stared into his wife's eyes for a long while before eventually leaving the kitchen and exiting out their front door._

_"Sure you won't." Haley said to herself sarcastically._

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

_New York…_

_"They really liked my designs?" Brooke asked excitedly._

_Victoria slowly nodded her head. _

_"This is so great!" Brooke said grinning as she whipped out her cell. "I haven't spoken with Peyton in weeks. I need to call and tell her about what's been going on…she's so going to flip!" _

_Victoria took the phone from Brooke's hand. "There's no time for that. We have packing to do and a flight to catch."_

_"But we just got back to the city from Sydney less than 48 hours ago! Where are we going now?"_

_"Prague for the weekend. Then we're off to London for a week."_

_Brooke sighed. "Do we really need to go---"_

_"Yes!" Victoria interrupted._

_"But is it really necessary for---"_

_"Look…YOU were the one who wanted to take Clothes Over Bro's to the next level. Is that still what you want?"_

_Brooke made a face at her mother, but shook her head yes._

_Victoria nodded. "Ok then. If that's what you want, then all of these trips and meetings I've planned are necessary. "_

_Victoria then glanced down at her watch. "Now...start packing." She tossed Brooke her cell and exited her daughter's bedroom._

_Brooke quickly flipped open her phone and began dialing Peyton's number, but at the last second, decided against calling. She instead turned off her cell and threw it on a near by chair._

_"Are you packing in there?" Victoria shouted out to her daughter from the bathroom._

_Brooke rolled her eyes as she pulled out a suitcase from underneath her bed. "Yes Victoria!"_

_"Good."_

_Brooke sighed as she walked to her closet and began looking for outfits to take for her trips._

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

Peyton sighed. "So there you have it. 2008. An…interesting year to say the least. It was the year that Brooke set out to turn her small fashion company into an empire. It was the year that Nathan decided to do all he could to pursue his basketball dreams…seemingly no matter what the cost. It…was the year I was determined to try and make it in the music biz and…it was the year that…Lucas was going to propose to me. Though I didn't know about that until later on. If I said that 2008 was the year we all began breaking away from each other for good, I'd be lying. There were…some pleasant moments we shared in the years following. But still…it was an important year because we had started to drift a bit…and if it only took us a year to drift apart because of a busy…perhaps slightly stressful time in our lives that it'd be inevitable that when real, painful hardships struck us…we WOULD break away from each other entirely…some of us perhaps without hesitation…without thinking twice about it and without wanting to look back. I—I---I---I---I---I---I---I----I---"

"How wonderful!" Detective Moore yelled out.

It was at that moment Officer Riley entered into his room. "Hey boss…"

Riley's voice trailed off as he stared. "Were you watching one of the---"

"Reunion reflection confessionals?" Moore asked sighing. "I was watching Sawyer's…until the stupid dvd froze up."

Moore got up from his seat, headed to the television set and turned off the tv and dvd player.

"Do you want me to have Margaret call down to the school and have them send over another copy?"

Moore nodded. "Yeah. Those reflection confessional dvd's that the alumni were asked to make at the Tree Hill Reunion are so important because they're going to provide insight into the psyches of the core five and will be crucial to solving this case."

"Is there any particular reason you were watching hers first?"

"Maybe." Moore said slowly as he stroked his chin.

Riley nodded. "I see. Now…is there is a reason you're anxiously awaiting for suspect #1 to arrive?"

"You bet."

"Well I have good news for you sir. She's finally here."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore opened the door of the interrogation room and then gently closed it behind him. He walked up to the table, pulled out his chair, took a seat and stared long and hard at the woman sitting before him.

"Very fashionably late of you Ms. Davis."

Brooke stared into Moore's eyes, but remained quiet.

The two sat together for a long while in silence. Not a pin drop could be heard.

Moore finally spoke up. "So…are you going to say something or are we just going to sit here all day long?"

Brooke said nothing.

Moore sighed. "What's underneath all the clothes Brooke Davis? Is there a good, kind-hearted young woman who was just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is there a murderer?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**So…I hope you all liked the chapter! Ok…lots of things going on. First of all Peyton…is not suspect #1. Detective Moore was just watching a confessional dvd she made at the Tree Hill reunion; a confessional that all the attendees…including Brooke, Lucas, Haley and Nathan…had to make and did make. Now, what is that we know? Well we now know for a fact that since Brooke is actually suspect #1…she can't be the victim. We also know that for some reason…Moore is very interested in talking with Brooke. And through Peyton's reflection of 2008 in her confessional we learned that she and Lucas seemed to be drifting apart a bit due to her job and the distance. Is that what caused Leyton to split? Or did they somehow survive this hiccup and split sometime later on? We also saw that Nathan is determined to further his basketball career, much to the dismay of Haley, who seemed to be growing tired of his not being around. Okay so that's all. Please review with your thoughts/predictions. I greatly appreciate them! Here are some previews for next time…**

**Brooke reflects on 2009**

**Lucas/Brooke reunion flashbacks**


	3. If I Never See Your Face Again

**If I Never See Your Face Again**

_Lucas spotted Brooke sitting off by herself at an empty table. He walked over to her and took a seat beside her._

_"Brooke will you please talk to me?"_

_"Why is it that you want to talk with me so bad, huh?" Brooke asked as she sipped her drink. "When I have made it pretty clear that I don't want anything to do with you."_

_Lucas sighed. "If I could take it all back, you know I would. In a heartbeat."_

_"But you can't."_

_"I know I can't." Lucas said sadly. "And even though it's…hard to accept that I can't …I guess I'm going to have to try and live with that fact."_

_"You sure are."_

_"Brooke I---"_

_"You…you caused so much pain Lucas." Brooke said cutting him off. "And you destroyed my relationship with Peyton."_

_Lucas slowly nodded his head. "I know I did. And I've tried…so many times to talk to Peyton and tell her that everything was all my fault and to not…be upset with you because you did nothing wrong."_

_Brooke shook his head. "But I did. I believed in you. I believed in you when I never should have."_

_Lucas opened his mouth to respond, but Brooke interrupted._

_"She waved to me earlier. Our eyes met and she gave me a small wave. But that's all. And that's all I'm ever going to get. The only person that has ever really been there for me…doesn't want to be that person anymore. Gosh…I was such an idiot for having faith in you and you were such a jackass."_

_Brooke downed the rest of her drink and got up from her seat. "And you probably still are."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"What were you just thinking about?" Moore asked curiously, sensing that Brooke's mind had drifted off. "What's going on in that head of yours?

Brooke remained quiet and her mind continued to drift back…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Brooke had been in the bathroom and was just about to exit it when she noticed a heated Lucas entering into the nearly empty hallway. She poked her head out the door and watched him storm over to Peyton, who was standing by a window, talking on her cell. _

_"Get off the phone." Lucas said angrily. "We weren't done talking."_

_Peyton sighed. "Julian, I'll call you later ok?" _

_She then hung up her cell and glared at Lucas. "I have nothing else to say to you."_

_"Well I still have plenty to say to you." Lucas said crossing his arms. "Like why would you do this? Why? It's wrong and unfair to me and you know it!"_

_Peyton rolled her eyes. "Would you stop being so damn melodramatic?!"_

_"I'm being melodramatic?!" Lucas asked laughing. "Keep telling yourself that lie if it makes you feel better Peyton!"_

_Lucas threw his arms up in the air. "I'm not letting you do this. I won't."_

_"I'm pretty sure you can't stop me."_

_Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? I'm pretty sure that I can and I WILL!"_

_Peyton made a face at Lucas, who just brushed passed her and headed outside. Peyton began making her way back into the crowded reunion hall when Haley approached from seemingly out of nowhere._

_"You seriously need to stop stalking me."_

_Haley sighed. "Peyton…I'm sorry, ok? It was a mistake and I'm sorry! How many times do you want me to say it?"_

_"You can say it until your blue in the face. It doesn't really matter because your "sorry's" aren't going to undue what you did!"_

_"Don't you think I know that!" Haley shouted out on the verge of tears. "If I…if I could take that day back---."_

_"But you can't." Peyton said interrupting. "My God Haley, why didn't you just stop?! Lucas he…he yelled at you to stop but you wouldn't listen! Why didn't you listen?!"_

_Haley shook her head. "I don't know! I thought…I thought that he---"_

_Peyton cut her off. "You…you shattered so many hearts that day Haley. And you caused so much damage…perhaps irreparable damage that I might never be able to completely fix! You…"_

_Peyton's voice trailed off as the tears began flooding down her face._

_Haley reached her arms in an attempt to try and comfort Peyton, but the blonde stepped away. _

_"Just leave me alone Haley. Leave me alone. You'll end up regretting it if you don't."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore pulled out a photo of Brooke and placed it in front of her. "Where is she now, huh? What happened to this cheery girl behind the red door?"

Moore's words caused Brooke to snap back to reality. She stared long and hard at the photograph before answering. "Life happened."

Moore nodded and got up from his seat. He began pacing around. "So tell me about it. Because I'm curious to now how a happy girl with a rising clothing company lost her way."

Brooke sighed. "It didn't happen over night. Things…things had started off really well for me and things continued to go well for a little while...for me and the others too. Well…at least most of us anyways…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Jan. 2009 – Los Angeles _

_L/P dining at a restaurant…_

_"I'm glad you decided to come out here to see me."_

_Lucas nodded as he took a sip of his wine. "I'm glad you invited me. I know it's only been like 3 months since the---"_

_"Horrible phone call that pretty much ended us?" Peyton asked interrupting. "It seems like so much longer."_

_Lucas sighed. "Peyton, I---"_

_Peyton dropped her fork on her plate and began rambling. "Lucas I was an idiot. I was such an idiot for putting my job…a job that a freaking monkey could do…over you. It…it was wrong and I'm so sorry. I…I miss you so much. I miss us and I really want for us to try again. Please giveus another chance. I promise that things aren't going to be like before. I…I quit my job and Brooke she's…she's lending me the money to start up my own independent label and since I'm going to be my own boss I'll make sure I give myself a real flexible work schedule that would never interfere with our relationship and I'll move…I'll move back to North Carolina. I just…I want to be with you wherever you are and---"_

_"Peyton, stop." Lucas said finally cutting her off. "Breathe and listen to what I have to say."_

_Peyton nodded. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She then opened her eyes back up and looked at Lucas._

_Lucas got up from his seat and walked over to Peyton. He bent down on one knee, reached his hand into his pocket, pulled out the ring box and slowly opened it up. "Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer will you marry me?"_

_Peyton's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh my God?! I must be dreaming!"_

_Lucas chuckled slightly, but his face quickly turned much more serious. "You're not dreaming Peyton. I asked you to marry me. I was going to ask you that weekend, but umm…anyways…I had wanted to marry you then and guess what? I still want to marry you now because…because I am so crazy in love with you and you…you are the only one I want standing next to me when all of my dreams come true."_

_Tears began to well up in Peyton's eyes. "I am so speechless right now. I…I don't know what to say."_

_"SAY YES!"_

_Both Peyton and Lucas looked around and saw that the entire restaurant was watching them. _

_Peyton laughed and began nodding her head up and down. "This is all so crazy, but yes I'll marry you!"_

_Lucas smiled as he took the engagement ring out of the box and slipped it on to her finger. He then got up from off his knee, picked Peyton up and swung her around._

_The other diner's in the restaurant clapped and cheered._

_"I love you Lucas." Peyton said staring into his piercing blue eyes. "I'll always love you."_

_Lucas leaned in and gave her kiss. "And I'll always love you."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_March 2009 – NYC_

_Brooke put Peyton on speaker phone as she plopped down on her bed. "I want to hear the story again."_

"Brooke, I've told you about it a billion times. So many that I'm starting to get sick of hearing about how Lucas proposed to me."

_Brooke sighed. "Fine, fine."_

"Ok…so since we're not going to talk about my love life, let's talk about yours. Have you really not been able to meet a nice New Yorker out there?"

_"Oh I've met plently of them." Brooke said as she sifted through her magazine. "Just no decent ones. They're all only into either my hot bod or my money."_

"I'm sorry Brooke. Try not to worry about it though, because I'm sure you're going to find a great guy out there soon…one who's into you for you and nothing else."

_"I thin I have."_

"But I thought you said that there was no---"

_Brooke cut her off. "He's not a New Yorker. He's a…Tree Hillian named Chase."_

"Chase is living in New York now?"

_"Yup." Brooke said as she threw the magazine onto the floor. "We're actually meeting up for dinner tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it goes."_

"Please do. You know…I think it's great that you and Chase are reconnecting. I mean, the only reason you guys broke up anyway was because of the whole distance thing. Now that your in the same city---"

_"It might work." Brooke said interrupting. "It just might."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"I had a nice time tonight." Chase said as he walked Brooke up to her front door. "I'd love to do this again sometime soon."_

_Brooke smiled. "Me too."_

_"Ok…I'll give you a call." _

_Chase gave Brooke a small kiss on the cheek and then headed back toward his car. _

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_May 2009 – North Carolina_

_"Toronto?" _

_Nathan shook his head. "Yeah, it looks like I'm going to be a second round draft pick and I'll be going to the Raptors! Isn't this great?!"_

_Haley sighed. "Nathan I'm happy for you. I am, but…Toronto?! That's in Canada! I really don't want to move there."_

_Nathan shook his head. "There's no need for you too. I'll only be living there during the season. And there's lots of breaks during it. I won't be away that much. Everything will be fine."_

_"No…I'll never see you. Jamie will never see you."_

_Nathan sighed. "Haley it's not going to be that bad."_

_"Not that bad?!" Haley asked raising her voice. _

_"Haley…not only is playing in the NBA my dream…it's going to help provide for our family. It might be a little rough in the beginning, but it'll get easier. Please let's make this work."_

_"Nathan…"_

_"You and Jamie are always going to be my number one priorities. That's not going to change, I promise."_

_Haley nodded. "Alright."_

_Nathan grinned and he picked Haley up and spun her around in his arms. "This is great! I can't believe I'm going to the Raptors!"_

_"Neither can I." Haley said feigning excitement. "Neither can I." _

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"So I see Haley wasn't really too thrilled with the whole NBA thing?"

"Not really."

Moore nodded his head and sat back down in his chair. "Interesting. Now Brooke…let's move on from the past and talk about the present day. Why don't you start telling me about the night of the murder."

"What do you want to know?"

Moore eyed her curiously. "Did you do it?"

Brooke glared into his eyes. "I don't know, did I?"

Moore chuckled. "I see you like to play games."

"No." Brooke said as she got up from her seat. "It's just…I'm sure you already have it in your head who's guilty. I wouldn't have been your first suspect if you didn't think it was me, right?"

"Well is it?"

"If you think it's me, then you should take me into custody and officially charge me."

Moore got up from his seat and stared long and hard at the brunette. "You're free to go for now Ms. Davis, but don't go too far. I'll be in touch. You can count it."

Brooke nodded. "I'm sure you will be."

And with that, a guard was buzzed into the interrogation room and quickly guided Brooke out of it. Moore sat back down and pondered for a long while.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Brooke stared aimlessly out of her taxi window and once again let her mind wander to the reunion…

_Brooke had decided to head outside for some fresh air when she overheard Nathan and Haley arguing. She stood by the door and listened._

_"And you've never been selfish?" Nathan asked raising an eyebrow. "Does the name Chase bring back any memories of your selfishness?"_

_Haley laughed. "Oh, you're going to throw the Chase thing in my face now?! I heard enough from Brooke over the years about that. I've tried apologizing a million times and I really don't need to be reminded of that by you every time I try to bring up OUR problems!"_

_Nathan just shook his head. "Enough with the yelling. I don't want to talk about our problems if that's all your going to do."_

_"How about we just not talk about them at all then?!" Haley shouted out. _

_Nathan threw up his hands. "Fine by me!"_

_"Good. And don't talk to me for the rest of the night. You'll be sorry if you do." _

_Haley then stormed off and headed back into the building. She nearly knocked into Brooke and the two stared at each other for a long while before Haley continued on passed her. Brooke then directed her attention back on to Nathan, who had remained outside. He was just about to make his way back in when he felt his cell vibrate in his pocket. He whipped it out and answered it._

_"Hey Mike what's---yeah, yeah I'm still at this stupid fucking reunion. I don't know why I bothered coming. No it's that bad I mean…I don't really have a problem with Brooke, but we don't talk. Lucas is a jackass. Enough said. Peyton…well you already know all about the Peyton thing so I'm not even going to go there---oh yeah and Haley is reallygetting on my last nerves…seriously if I never see her face again, I won't mind. This night has been---"_

_All of a sudden Nathan tripped over his feet and fell down to the ground. He flipped his cell closed and placed it on the ground beside him._

_"Shit." He said as he slowly extended his right leg out. He lifted up his pant's, making his transtibial prosthesis visible. Nathan carefully removed the leg and held it up to examine in it._

_"Great, it's fucking broken!"_

_He then, with all his might, flung the artificial limb against the wall, shattering it to bits. It was at that moment that he noticed Brooke and the two stared at each other for a long while in silence._

Brooke's mind returned back to the present say as her taxi came to a screeching halt. "This has to work." She whispered to herself quietly. "It has to."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so…lot's of drama in this chapter! So in the first flashback scene we learned that Lucas somehow destroyed the Breyton friendship. How so? Well that remains unclear, but Brooke blames him and Lucas does acknowledge that it's his fault and his fault alone. In another flashback scene we see Lucas and Peyton fighting. Lucas is mad at Peyton for wanting to do something…though that something isn't made clear yet. Why was Lucas flipping out so much? I mean, it's not like they're together. So what's it matter what Peyton does? We also see Peyton and Haley get into. Apparently Haley did something that caused a lot of heartache and perhaps irreparable damage. It involves Lucas somehow, but we're not really sure how just yet. Also…in the Naley argument, we learned that Brooke has issues with Haley and it has something to do with Chase. And we also learned that Nathan…lost a leg!? When and how did that happen?! Do you think he holds one of the crew responsible for it? And in the past…Lucas and Peyton get engaged, but do they wed? Nathan made it to the NBA, but what becomes of his and Haley's relationship? And what became of Brooke and Chase? And what do you think of Brooke? Her answers to Moore's questions were very vague and pecuilar…why do you think that is? Who do you think will be suspect #2? And what do you make of all the threats? Lucas threatened Peyton, Peyton was threatening Haley, Haley was threatening Nathan, Brooke and Haley were glaring at each other…Nathan made it clear he pretty much hates them all. So many questions! I love hearing what you guys think so please review with your thoughts!! I greatly appreciate them!! – Jasmine**

**Next time…**

**2010 is a really rough year for some**

**Suspect#2 is revealed**

**Another reunion confessional is watched**


	4. I've Been Waiting For You

**I've Been Waiting For You**

A/N: I'm glad you guys are enjoying my story! Here's another update for you all. A lot of flashbacks this time, but still good. Oh and in case you're wondering…you know how in chapter 2, Peyton knew like word for word Naley's entire Jamie/basketball/library argument? Well that's because at some point she was told about it. Things like that are going to happen again…when a character really has no way of knowing about a particularl convo because they weren't there. Just remember that, they heard about it later, ok? Ok. That's all! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Hey Margaret, where are the rest of the dvds?" Riley shouted out to the secretary from Moore's office. "Before Moore left to see suspect #2 he asked me to take a look at---"

"There was an accident with the coffemaker." Margaret said cutting him off. "They got ruined. We called down to the school and they'll be sending more copies to us soon."

Riley shook his head in disbelief. "All of them are ruined?!"

Margaret nodded. "Yes. They---oh wait, no. I think Brian was telling me that he was able to save one. Let me check to see who's it is."

A few minutes later, Margaret emerged at Moore's door. "It's Lucas Scott's. Would you like it take a look at it?"

"Well it's not the one I originally wanted, but…I'll take it."

Margaret hands him the dvd and Riley walks over to the player, puts it in and hits the play button.

_"Hey everybody, my name's Lucas Scott and this is my---"_

Riley started to fast forward a bit and stopped it a few minutes into his confessional.

_A now extremely somber Lucas appeared on the screen. "2010…one of the worst years of my life. And not just mine…_

**_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_**

_Jan. 2010 – NYC_

_"Chase where are you? I'm here at the café waiting for you. Oh you're almost here? Ok, I'll see ya in 10."_

_Brooke hung up her cell and placed it back in her purse. She sipped on her latte, and looked around the crowded café for Chase. It was then that she noticed one of her models, Amy, and another girl, approaching her little corner table._

_"Brooke Davis!" Amy said as she walked up to her. _

_Brooke smiled, got up from her seat, and gave the redhead a big bear hug. "Amy! How are you? It's been so long! How was Paris?"_

_"Great! I had a blast!" It was then that Amy suddenly remembered the friend she came into the café with. "Anyways…Brooke this is my sister---"_

_"Lindsey." She extended her hand out to Brooke. "Lindsey Strauss."_

_Brooke shook it. "It's nice to meet you."_

_"It's nice to meet you too. Although I kind of feel like I know you."_

_"Is that so?"_

_Lindsey nodded. "And not just because you're this big fashion designer who's all over the magazines and tv…though I love your clothes---"_

_"Then from what?" Brooke asked, growing curious._

_"She was fiercely independent Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In two years she had grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday. I'm not sure she even knows it."_

_Brooke smiled. "An Unkindness of Ravens. But how do you know about that? I mean, it hasn't been released. Lucas hasn't found anyone who wants to publish it."_

_"I want to publish it." _

_"You're an---"_

_"Editor. I'm a junior editor at our dad's publishing company. Lucas sent in his manuscript a while back and a couple of weeks ago I finally got around to reading it and…I loved it. I'm dying to publish his book and I've been trying to get in contact with him for a couple weeks now, but I haven't heard anything back."_

_Brooke sighed. "Yeah, he's umm…going through a tough time right now."_

_Lindsey nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that."_

_"Yeah well…hopefully things will get better soon and when they do…if you want…I'd be happy to talk to him about it and I'll make sure that when he starts thinking about trying to get it published that he picks your father's company. I'll put in a good word for you. Any friend of Amy's is a friend of mine."_

_Lindsey smiled. "That would be great."_

_Amy checked her watch. "Alright Linds…we better get going."_

_Lindsey nodded and the two girls waved goodbye to Brooke and headed out the café. A few minutes later, Chase came through the door. Brooke spotted him and immediately waved him over. _

_Brooke jumped into his arms. "Hey!"_

_"Owww!!" Chase yelled out in pain. "Brooke let go."_

_"But I jump on you all the time." said a confused Brooke as she hopped out of his arms. "What's the problem? And don't you dare tell me I'm starting to getting fat or something!"_

_Chase shook his head and chuckled. "No, it's just…you hit this bruise I have on my shoulder and it hurt…a lot is all."_

_Brooke rolled up his sleeve and took a look at his shoulder. "Chase that's a big bruise. How did you get that?"_

_Chase shrugged. "I don't know. I just woke up with it. I must've knocked into something last night when I was sleeping." _

_Brooke nodded and the two sat down at the table. Chase ordered a muffin and an ice coffee and a couple of minutes later a waitress brought his drink and breakfast and Chase started telling Brooke about his morning._

_"I still can't believe your dog buried all of your boxers in the backyard! All except those hideous pink polka dot ones I'm assuming you're rocking right now!"_

_"Yeah, well he left me no choice!"_

_Brooke shook her head and laughed, but her giggles soon came to a sudden halt. "Chase…your nose is bleeding."_

_Chase put his hand up to his nose. "Really? Again?"_

_Brooke handed him a napkin. "You've been getting them a lot lately. Maybe you should see a doc---"_

_"They're just nosebleeds Brooke." Chase said as he leaned his head back. "Nothing to worry about, ok?"_

_Brooke nodded and the two resumed their conversation._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Brooke sat down on one of the couches in her hotel suite. She began sifting through a photo album she had brought.

She stared long and hard at pictures of her with Peyton, some with her, Nathan and Haley, and a couple of her and Lucas.

When she finally got to an old high school photo of her and Chase she removed the photo and stared at it for a long while. She eventually put it back in its place and continued looking through all of the photos of her with Chase and a couple of photos of him by himself before flipping to the end of the album and pulling out a newspaper clipping.

Tears began welling up in her eyes as she stared at Chase's obituary.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_"Peyton and I…we went through so much that year. We went through things that no one should ever have to…"_

_March 2010 – LA_

_Peyton fiddled around with her wedding ring as she paced aimlessly about the hospital room. "What is taking him so long?!"_

_Lucas didn't respond. He instead just sighed and continued to stare out the window. Peyton stopped moving and took a minute to look over at Lucas. Her attention than shifted onto their three-month-old son, Keith, lying helplessly in his hospital crib._

_She walked over to the sleeping baby and gently began stroking his cheek._

_"And I was worried about HCM." Lucas said quietly, still staring out the window. _

_"I'd give anything for him to have HCM instead of…"_

_Peyton let her voice trail off as the tears began to flood down at her eyes. Lucas looked over at her. He got up from his seat by the window and walked over to Peyton and took her into his arms. "He's a fighter Peyton, He's going to get through this."_

_"I hope so." Peyton said as she laid her head down on his chest. _

_Lucas was about to respond, when he heard his cell go off. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "It's my mom. I…I gotta take this and tell her what's been going on."_

_Peyton lifted her head off of Lucas's chest and nodded. She redirected her attention back on to Keith and Lucas exited into the hallway. _

_A few minutes later, Keith's doctor, Dr. Henderson entered into the room. "Mrs. Scott, I apologize for having kept you waiting."_

_Peyton wiped away a tear from her face. "It's ok."_

_"Shall I begin to discuss Keith with you or do you want to wait for---"_

_"I can't wait." Peyton said cutting him off. "I need to know now. I need to know what's going to happen next."_

_Dr. Henderson nodded. "Very well then. Now…as you know his Diamond Blackfan Anemia is preventing his bone marrow from making an adequate number of red blood cells and while the blood transfusions had been maintaining his hemoglobin levels---"_

_"They've stopped working haven't they?"_

_Dr. Henderson sighed. "Not completely, but they soon will…most likely."_

_Peyton shook her head. "But the corticosteriods…they NEVER worked for him."_

_"No they didn't."_

_"So what…what other treatment options are there?"_

_Dr. Henderson remained silent for a long while before finally answering. "There…there isn't, but---"_

_Peyton began to cry softly. "No, no, no. Don't tell me that. There has to be…something…something that could help him!"_

_"There is nothing else I can do to treat your son. But there is…there is a possible way to cure him."_

_Peyton's eyes grew large. "A cure? Why am I just now finding out about this?!"_

_"Because it's never recommended until all other options are first tried. Mainly because it's an extremely risky and life-threatening procedure that offers no guarantees. And the only way he could even have it would be if…"_

_"If what?!" Peyton asked anxiously._

_"Mrs. Scott, would you and your husband ever consider the possibility of…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Lucas entered into the room and found Peyton sitting by the window. He walked up to her. "Has Dr. Henderson---"_

_"Yes." Peyton said interrupting. "He's been in. But there was an emergency and he had to leave."_

_Lucas nodded. "So what did he say?"_

_"He said that…the blood transfusions have stopped working."_

_Lucas's face turned white. "But…the transfusions were…the last option."_

_Peyton shook her head. "No. There's…one more. One more option that Dr. Henderson told me could…actually cure Keith."_

_"Wait, a cure?!" Lucas asked in disbelief. "Why didn't he tell us about…whatever it is… before then?!"_

_Peyton took a minute to collect her thoughts before answering. "Because it's risky for him and it might not work. It's also slightly controversial. Still…I really want to do it."_

_"Well what is it?"_

_"Dr. Henderson told me that a bone-marrow transplant could possible cure him."_

_"Ok well let's do it."_

_"It's not that simple."_

_"How do you mean?"_

_Peyton took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Because the match has to be perfect. The donor has to have the same uh…Human Leukocyte Antigen marker. He said it was important because they help the body recognize which cells belong in the body and which don't."_

_"What are the chances of us finding such a match for him?"_

_"Well there's always a chance, but it's not likely. It's not likely at all."_

_Lucas sighed. "I don't get it then. Why did he tell you about it if we're never going to be able to find a match for Keith?"_

_"Because…" Peyton began, staring long and hard into Lucas's blue eyes. "We don't need to find a match. We could have one."_

_Lucas took a moment to process Peyton's words before responding. "You mean…have another a baby?"_

_Peyton nodded her head slowly. "Yes, but…not just any baby. I want to have THE baby. The one that could possibly save our son. And we can. Dr. Henderson said that we could have a specifically selected child…one who would be an identical tissue match, yet without the DBA."_

_Lucas bit his lip. "Do you…do you only want to have a baby to save Keith? Because that can't be the only reason."_

_Peyton thought long and hard before answering. "Lucas we always said that at some point we would have another…at least one more so that he could have someone, you know? Obviously I wanted to wait a while before giving him a sibling, but…I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would never bring a child into this world JUST to save Keith. I always wanted a second baby…a second one that I would love and cherish just as much as our son. I just don't want to wait to have him or her anymore is all. I…I want our second baby to have a big brother Lucas. And I want Keith to be able to experience what it's like to be one, but that might not happen if we don't do this."_

_Lucas looked over at his son asleep in his crib. "What if it turns out that the baby isn't a perfect match? Or that it he or she is but the transplant doesn't work? Then what?"_

_Peyton got up from her chair by the window and placed her hand on Lucas's cheek. "Then we'll look for other alternatives in helping Keith and we'll love the new baby all the same…even if he or she couldn't help. So…what do you say? Can we try? Will you have this baby with me?"_

**_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_**

_May 2010 – North Carolina_

_"You were so great last night!" Haley said as she placed her husband's dinner down on the table in front of him. "And Jamie was so proud."_

_Nathan sighed. "But I only played two minutes. Uh…it's so frustrating. I work so hard and I still hardly ever see the court. The only reason I even played as long as I did was because we were blowing the Bobcats out."_

_Haley sat down, opposite of Nathan, and began cutting her meat. "Just try and keep at it."_

_Nathan took a bite of his chicken. "I know it's just sometimes… I can't help but think going to the NBA might not have been the best decision."_

_"You wish you had tried to play Division I basketball first?" Haley asked as she sipped on her wine._

_Nathan shook his head. "No I…I…ok I didn't want to talk to you about this now, but---"_

_"Spit it out it."_

_Nathan sighed. "I'm leaving the Raptors."_

_"And going where?" Haley asked raising an eyebrow._

_"Spain?"_

_Haley's jaw dropped. "Are you asking or telling!?"_

_"Well which would you prefer?"_

_"Nathan!" Haley shouted out. "Tell me you didn't sign a contract to go and play basketball in Europe without talking with me about it first!"_

_"I didn't sign anything yet." Nathan said placing his knife and fork down on his plate. "But I did sort of make an informal verbal agreement."_

_Haley shook her head in disgust. "Unbelievable! Why would you do that without talking to me about it first?!"_

_"I needed to give an answer Haley. On the spot. If I said I needed to think it over then Real Madrid would've picked someone else and I…I couldn't let them do that. They're the best team over in Europe right now and in desperate need of a shooting guard. I would've been passing up an opportunity of a lifetime."_

_"So this deal is pretty much set stone isn't it?"_

_Nathan nodded. "Yes, but Hales…we'll make this work, ok? Obviously we would have to live in Spain during the season, but---"_

_"I'm not moving to Spain Nathan." Haley stated matte-of-factly, getting up from her seat at the table.. "Jamie's not going to be raised anywhere but in America."_

_"But Haley---"_

_"No Nathan. That's final. So if you want to go and play basketball off in Spain, you're going alone."_

_"Why do I feel as though if I decide to go…you're not going to be here when I get back?"_

_"Because I won't be."_

_Haley shook her head and exited the kitchen. Nathan quickly got up from his seat and followed Haley into the living room._

_"Then I won't go!" Nathan said to his wife. "I'll get out of my verbal agreement with Real Madrid and stay with the Raptors."_

_Haley sighed. "It's too late."_

_"No, I could prob---"_

_"No, I'm not talking about your deal. I'm talking about how it's too late for you to try and make things right now."_

_Nathan threw up his hands in frustration. "So where does this leave us? You want to divorce me?"_

_"No…" Haley began, taking a minute to collect her thoughts. "But I…I do think we should separate for a little while. Legally separate. So you and I can evaluate why it is we got married and if we should try and salvage what we have."_

_"Haley!" Nathan shouted out, growing emotional. "I married you because I love you. And I still love you!"_

_"Do you Nathan?" Haley asked doubtfully. "Because if you really loved me you wouldn't be making life-altering decisions that effect our relationship and our family without at least talking with me about it first."_

_"Haley---"_

_"No, I'm done." Haley said cutting him off. "We are done. At least for now we are. Whether it be permanently or only temporarily, well…that's up to you." _

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

_Lucas wiped away a tear from his face. "Like I said before…2010 was a very difficult year. And 2011? Well that was----"_

Riley hit the power button and turned the player off. He plopped down in Moore's chair and pondered everything he had just heard.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore banged on the door. "Hello! I know you're in there Mr.---"

Just then the door flung open and Nathan, on crutches, appeared before Moore. "I've been waiting for you."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you all liked it! So lets see…what did we learn in this chapter? Well it looks like Lucas and Peyton got married and had a son very early on…a very sick son who appears to be on the verge of death. What do you think happened? Did Lucas agree to have another baby with Peyton? The baby that would save Keith? What became of their son? Now…onto Brooke. Back in 2010 Brooke met Lindsey…the sister of one of her models. She learns that Lindsey is an editor and is eager to publish Lucas's book and Brooke is willing to help make that happen and promises to try and hook Lucas and Lindsey up when the timing is appropriate. We also learned that Chase was having lots of nosebleeds and bruising, worrying Brooke. He said he was fine, but fast forward to the present day and we find out that Chase has died. We also learned that Haley has had enough of Nathan and his rash decision making. I guess Spain was the last straw! She wants a separation, though not a divorce. Keep that in mind. And lastly we found out that…Nathan is suspect #2. What do you think he'll say to Moore? Why do you think he's the next one Moore wanted to see? And who's dead? Haley, Peyton or Lucas? **

**Next time...**

**Moore and Nathan have a chat**

**And 2011...a joyous year for some, though not all**


	5. Broken Hearted Girl

**Broken-Hearted Girl**

A/N: Okay so occasionally I will throw in some random, flashback snippets that don't necessarily take place in the specific year that is being reflected on in a certain chapter, but still feel it's necessary that it be added in. Anyways…I hope you all like this next one. Thanks for all the reviews! I love hearing what you guys think. – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"I've been waiting for you."

Moore eyed Nathan curiously as he followed him into his house. "Is that so?"

Nathan slowly nodded his head as he laid his crutches down beside the couch and sat down. "I'm kind of surprised I'm not your prime suspect."

"How do you know you aren't?" Moore asked as he took a seat in a chair across from Nathan.

"Because I'm the second person you're seeing. Am I right?"

Moore nodded. "True, but you four…are not arranged in the order for the reasons you might think. So for all you know, you just might very well be my prime suspect."

Nathan stared at the detective and pondered his words for a long while, but chose not to respond to his statement.

"So…why don't you tell me about that leg of yours?"

Nathan glanced down at his missing right leg and his mind began drifting to the night that ended life as he knew it forever…

_"TRY IT AGAIN!"_

_Nathan reached for the emergency brake from the passenger's seat and attempted to stop the out of control vehicle, but it failed to work._

_He then looked up, just as a freight truck collided into the car._

Nathan's mind quickly returned back to the present day and he whispered quietly to himself. "She walked away with a scratch on her cheek, and I lose a leg."

"What was that?" Moore asked, upset he had missed what was said.

Nathan shook his head. "Nothing."

Moore sighed. "Fine you don't want to talk about it. We'll move on then. Tell me about the murder. Did you do it?"

Nathan stared long and hard into the detective's eyes before answering. "I don't know, you tell me."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

After taking a couple of minutes to think about what he had just seen, Riley decided to start Lucas's confessional tape back up. He reached for the remote, picked it up and hit the play button.

_Lucas wiped_ _away a tear from his face. "Like I said before…2010 was a very difficult year. And 2011? Well that…"_

_He paused for a long while before continuing. "That was the year my daughter Rebecca was born."_

_Lucas smiled softly. "I still remember that day…Valentine's Day…like it was yesterday. I remember holding her for the first time…staring into those green eyes of hers and my heart just melted. I then locked eyes with Peyton and it was at that moment that we both knew. We both knew that having her…was the right thing to do because it was at that moment we both fell in love with Beckah for Beckah and for no other reason. Though…if she could somehow save Keith well…then that would just be the icing on top of the cake…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_February 2011- L.A._

_"Is she a good enough match?" asked Peyton hopefully._

_Dr. Henderson shook his head. "No. She's a perfect one. Rebecca's HLA type…it's identical to Keith's."_

_Lucas grinned and Peyton's eyes lit up and the two hugged each other in excitement. Peyton eventually broke away from Lucas and directed her attention toward Dr. Henderson. _

_"So what happens now?"_

_"Nothing right away. Keith is still stable enough to hold off on the procedure for a little while longer…which is what I want to do because the older Rebecca is when we do this, the better."_

_Lucas nodded. "But what if Keith takes a turn for the worse?"_

_"Then we're going to just have to go ahead and do it. Start with a high dosage of chemotherapy to suppress his immune system…then we'll have to harvest the bone marrow from Rebecca. Then her bone marrow will be given to Keith intravenously."_

_"And then?" Peyton asked worriedly._

_Dr. Henderson shook his head. "Nothing. We wait. We won't know if the procedure was successful until weeks later. Unless he immediately starts rejecting it or if there's another problem…like him somehow catching an infection or even something like the common cold which…could potentially kill him because of his weakened immune system."_

_"Oh God…" Peyton whispered to herself as she laid her head down on Lucas's chest. _

_"It'll be okay Peyton." Lucas said as he stroked her hair. "He'll be okay. I just know it."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Brooke closed the photo album and threw it down onto the floor. She began staring aimlessly off into space and let her mind wander…

_March 2011- New York_

_"Please tell me you're joking right now."_

_Chase slowly shook his head no. _

_An extremely teary-eyed Brooke just plopped down on her bed in shock. "You---you have leukemia?!"_

_Chase took a seat next to Brooke. "Yeah."_

_Brooke just shook her head in disbelief. "Is…is it treatable? I mean…you can beat it right?! You're GOING to beat it. Because…because you can't die."_

_"Brooke…"_

_"Promise me you're not going to die Chase!" Brooke cried out, taking him into her arms. "Promise me."_

_He stroked her hair and held her closely. "I promise I'll always be with you Brooke. Always."_

"You promised that you'd always be with me. But you wouldn't promise me that you wouldn't die because you knew you were going to. Because…by the time you found out and told me about your cancer it was too late to do anything about it. And now…you're gone. And so is----"

Brooke's words were interrupted by the ring of her cell. She reached over to the nightstand and answered it. "Hey---yeah I already talked with him. What should you do? You're going to stick to the script…that's what you're going to----no you can't. Look, this is what's best…we all agreed to---I know, I know, but there's no other way…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Talk to me Nathan. Tell me about---"

"2011 was a rough year for everyone."

Moore sighed. "Can we please stay on----"

Nathan cut him off and continued with his thoughts. "More so for Lucas, Peyton and Brooke but…it wasn't the greatest year for Haley and I either…as we weren't together. But I guess what hurt more than that was it seemed as if…she liked it that way…"

_May 2011 – North Carolina_

_"Did Jamie have fun at the park today?"_

_"Yeah, I think so."_

_Haley nodded. "Good, I'm glad."_

_Nathan looked down at her packed suitcase on the floor beside the door. "So when you leaving for L.A.?"_

_"Friday. I wasn't supposed to leave until next week but they moved up Keith's procedure and Lucas and Peyton…they really need some help…with Rebecca and…someone has to run that label."_

_Nathan nodded. "I hope that goes well. Lucas and Peyton have both gone through so much. Their family deserves to be happy."_

_"Yes." Haley said agreeing. "That they do."_

_"You're a good friend Hales. Going out there to help them."_

_Haley sighed. "Somebody has too. And since you still have basketball and Brooke is…dealing with Chase…that somebody's going to me."_

_"How long are you and Jamie going to be out there for?"_

_Haley shrugged. "I don't know. For however long they need me."_

_"Are you going to maybe work on your music if you get a chance?"_

_"Well I've written a couple of songs, so I was thinking about probably recording a couple of them…maybe making a demo or EP."_

_"You should."_

_"I think I will. It's about time I went after something that I wanted for a change."_

_Nathan slowly nodded his head in understanding. "You're absolutely right."_

_An awkward silence filled the room and the two just stood staring at each other for a long time before Nathan finally spoke up. "Haley, I'm really mi---"_

_"You should probably go." Haley said cutting him off. "I still have to pack some things for Jamie and run a whole bunch of errands."_

_Nathan sighed. "Ok…I guess I'll go then."_

_Haley walked him to the door and saw him out. Nathan began making his way to the car, but instead turned around and poked his head into the living room window. He saw that Jamie had come downstairs and that him and Haley were running around and laughing together. Nathan sighed and sadly shook his head. He then turned around, headed down the steps and toward his car._

"Why did you just tell me all of that?" Moore asked his suspect curiously.

"Because you needed to know." Nathan replied simply. "You needed to know."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_"A few months after Beckah was born, the transplant took place and then Peyton and I…we…we had to wait. It was the scariest time of my life because not only did I have Keith to worry about, but Beckah too…who had this really bad and unexpected allergic reaction to the general anesthesia."_

_Lucas found himself getting choked up as he thought back, so he took a minute to collect his thoughts before speaking again. _

_"Never did I think I would have to worry about something bad happening to her too. Thank God she got through it. Now if only she could get through…"_

_Tears began to well up in Lucas's eyes. "Nothing…nothing hurts more than when I go to tuck my daughter into bed at night, look her in the eyes and tell her I love her and seeing her just stare at me and not say it back. My…my Beckah hasn't been Beckah for a long time now. Not since that horrible day that everything changed…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_November 2016 – North Carolina_

_Beckah began crying uncontrollably and Peyton immediately sought to comfort her daughter, by bending down and trying to hug her, but Beckah wouldn't have any of it._

_"No!" She screamed out, pushing Peyton away from her. "Don't touch me!"_

_A shocked Peyton turned and looked over at Lucas, who ran over to her and Beckah. He attempted to embrace the little girl, but she shoved him off of her too._

_"Beckah…" Lucas said pleading. "Honey…please talk to us. We love---"_

_"NO YOU DON'T!" Beckah yelled out. "And guess what? I don't love you either! I…I HATE you! I hate BOTH of you!"_

_Beckah then brushed passed her parents, exited the living room and headed upstairs. _

_Peyton's jaw dropped and the tears began to fall down her cheeks. She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. Lucas tried hard to blink back his own tears as he took Peyton into his arms and tried to comfort her._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Lucas wiped away a tear from his face. "Like I said before…my little girl hasn't been my little girl in a long time and…I'm not sure if she ever really will be again. Her heart was broken into a million little pieces and Peyton and I have been trying our hardest to put it back together again and to reach out to her, but…none of our attempts really seem to be working."_

_Lucas sighed. "But I'm getting sidetracked. So…let me get back on subject here. After Keith received bone marrow from Beckah…all Peyton and I could do was wait. And that's what we did. And in the end…"_

_He paused and took in a deep breath. "In the end…" _

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is. I hope you all liked it! Let's see…where should we start? Well as for Lucas and Peyton…they did end up having another baby, Rebecca, who turned out to be the perfect match for Keith and the transplant took place…though it's still unclear as to whether or not it worked and if Keith's still alive…though Beckah we know is most definitely alive and kicking. And apparently something happened last year that caused Beckah to breakdown and now her relationship with Lucas and Peyton has become severely fractured. What could've happened? Brooke was talking to somebody on the phone in the present day and was telling whoever it was to "stick to the script." What do you think she's talking about and who do you think was on the other end? Nathan apparently lost his leg in a car accident. He wasn't driving, but someone was. And Haley is starting to realize that it's about time she stop putting her life on pause for Nathan and wants to do something for herself. Hmm. Okay so thank you to all of you who review! I like hearing what you guys have to say. Anyways…here are some previews for next time…**

**In 2012---a birthday party and a funeral **

**The police station finally gets their hands on all five copies of the reunion confessionals and it turns out that Haley's is the one Riley has been anxiously awaiting to watch.**


	6. Because Of You

**Because Of You**

A/N: Okay…so this chapter is SUPER long! Totally did not mean to make it this long, but I really wanted to end it at a specific point, so you guys got lucky! lol. Anyways…I hope you like it! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_February 2012 – North Carolina_

_"Happy Valentine's Day."_

_Nathan handed Haley a small gift. She opened up the box and pulled out a silver necklace._

_Haley stared at it in awe. "This is beautiful but you really didn't have to get me anything."_

_Nathan took the necklace from Haley and placed it around her neck."I wanted to."_

_Haley turned around to face him. "But you didn't have to. I mean…it's nice and all but you've already given me so much these past couple of months._

_Nathan eyed his wife curiously. "But what did I---"_

_"You've been there." Haley said interrupting. "You…you managed to get traded to the Bobcats…you refused to buy an apartment in Charlotte and instead decide to drive everyday during the season…nearly three hours a day there and back…to get to practice and games just so you can stay here in Tree Hill to be here with Jamie and I. And when you are here, you spend all of your time with us. When you do have to be away for games…you never stay away longer than absolutely necessary. You have been so incredibly sweet Nathan. And not just to me and our son, but with everyone…helping Lucas and Peyton with all of their ridiculously high medical bills. And seriously how many of your teammates would rush home in between two away games in L.A. just to make sure they were at their niece's birthday party?"_

_"Well Beckah's birthday is a landmark one and very important to Lucas and Peyton so of course I would be there. And as for helping them financially…who wouldn't? They've been through enough these past two years and the last thing those two should have to worry about is money."_

_Nathan paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "And as for everything else…I suppose it was about time I start stepping up and being the guy you first fell in love with. Playing pro ball was always a dream of mine, but I've finally come to realize that that dream means nothing if I couldn't have you to share it with. I love you so much Haley and I always will."_

_Haley grew teary-eyed, hugged Nathan and whispered into his ear. "I'll always love you too. And that's why…I want you to move back in."_

_Nathan broke away from Haley and looked into her eyes. "You mean that?"_

_"Yes." Haley said, leaning in and kissing him. "So will you?"_

_Nathan smiled. "Will I? Are you seriously even asking me? Of course I will!"_

_He picked up Haley and swung her around in excitement. He eventually set her down and Haley glanced at her watch._

_"We're going to be late for Beckah's birthday party. We better get going."_

_Nathan nodded and hollered up to Jamie. He came running down the stairs a few minutes later and the Scott clan headed outside to the car and made their way over to Lucas and Peyton's._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_As soon as the car pulled into the driveway and came to a stop, Jamie hopped out and called to Brooke, who was making her way into the house._

_"Aunt Brooke!"_

_Jamie ran up to her and hugged her knees. Brooke laughed and picked him up. "Buddy I've missed you so much! You've grown at least a foot since the last time I saw you."_

_"That's why you should move back here." Jamie stated matter-of-factly. "Uncle Lucas and Aunt Peyton did. Besides, you'd see me more!"_

_Brooke smiled. "Maybe I will bud. Maybe I will."_

_Jamie nodded and hopped out of Brooke's arms. He ran back over to his dad, took his hand and began dragging him inside. "Come on!"_

_Nathan chuckled as he quickly kissed his wife on the cheek and followed his son into the house._

_Brooke turned her attention to Haley. "So…you and Nathan---"_

_"I asked him to move back in."_

_Brooke smiled softly. "That's great. I'm happy for you guys."_

_Haley made her way over to her friend and gave her a hug. "Did Chase come with you?"_

_Brooke broke away from the embrace and nodded. "Yeah, he's inside."_

_"How's he holding up?"_

_"Better than me." Brooke said sighing and trying to blink back tears. "He's being…so incredibly brave and strong and…"_

_She let her voice trail off and started to cry. "It's not fair Haley. It's not fair. Chase is a good person. Bad things aren't suppose to happen to good people."_

_Haley took Brooke into her arms. "I know it's not fair. It's not. But…you have to try and stay positive Brooke, ok? Because miracles…they happen every once in a while if you believe."_

_Brooke nodded. "I know they do."_

_"And if you ever need reminding, I'll be there to do it. You…you have always been such an amazing friend to me. My best girl friend. When I was having problems with Nathan, you were there. When I found out I was pregnant, you were there to support me. Now it's my turn to be there for you. Whenever, wherever you need me…I'll be there."_

_Brooke gave Haley a small smile. "I appreciate that."_

_Haley nodded. "Let's go in."_

_She took Brooke's hand and the two walked in to the house together._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Beckah...Happy Birthday to you!"_

_Peyton grinned down at the cheery little girl in her lap, who's innocent eyes were looking around the room and at all of the smiling faces._

_Beckah stared long and hard at the pretty pink cake and lit candle in front of her and she tilted her head in bewilderment._

_Haley chuckled. "Aww…she has no idea what to do."_

_Peyton sighed. "I think she needs someone to show her. But who?"_

_It was at that moment that Keith jumped out of Karen's arms. "Me! I show Beckah!"_

_Peyton laughed as she watched the toddler run over to the couch where she and his little sister were sitting. He plopped down next to the birthday girl and began showing her what to do._

_"Beckah blow…like this." _

_Beckah watched as Keith blew lightly. Peyton then held her daughter closer up to the cake, in front of the candle. Lucas zoomed the video camera in on Beckah, while Peyton, Keith, Brooke, Chase, Karen, Andy, Haley, Nathan, Jamie and Lily watched to see if she could do it._

_Beckah concentrated real hard on the candle and fixed her mouth and tried to blow, though she wasn't having much luck. She glanced over at Keith, who again showed her how to do it. Beckah then redirected her attention back on to the cake and tried once more. After a couple more tries she was finally able to blow out her candle and everyone cheered and clapped._

_Peyton kissed her daughter's cheek. "You did it baby! You did it!"_

_Karen smiled at her granddaughter. "I'll go in the kitchen and grab the knife, plates and forks." She removed the candle from the cake and then headed out of the family room. _

_The room soon filled with chatter as everyone waited for Karen to return. Peyton, who was holding Beckah by the waist, was busy talking with Haley, while Lucas was busy fumbling around with the camera. He momentarily looked up and it was at that moment he saw Beckah begin to lunge toward her cake._

_"Peyton, stop her---"_

_But it was too late. Beckah had smashed her hands into the cake. She took a huge handful and then proceeded to shove it into her mouth._

_"Oh no!" Peyton shouted out. "Someone hurry and give me a towel before she---"_

_Once again, it was too late. Beckah grabbed another big handful of her cake and this time shoved it all over Keith's face._

_The room filled with silence. Lucas and Peyton both glanced at each other and held their breaths, as they were sure their serious, broody little tyke was going to flip out over being smothered in cake by his little sister._

_But Keith surprised them all by instead taking his tongue and licking his mouth. "Yummy!"_

_Beckah then jumped out of Peyton's arms and on top of Keith. She hugged her big brother and licked his face._

_"Ewww!" Keith yelled out as he wiped his cheek. _

_Beckah just giggled at Keith as she rested her head on his chest and cuddled up next to him. Keith smiled and hugged his sister. _

_Lucas grinned and zoomed his camera in on Keith and Beckah. After he caught the moment on tape, he dropped it on the table and walked over to the couch. He took Beckah into his arms and swung her around, while Peyton picked up Keith and tickled him. Lucas and Beckah finally collapsed down onto the couch, next to Peyton and Keith, and the four, now all covered in cake, burst out in laughter._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"So in the end everything turned out exactly as Peyton and I hoped it would. Beckah she…she saved Keith. And ever since….he's tried to be the best big brother a little sister could have."_

_Lucas smiled softly. "And he's done a great job. He's always been able to calm her down when she's mad…cheer her up when she's sad…make her laugh when no one else can. At least he used to be able to do all those things."_

_He paused for a moment, taking a minute to close his eyes and think back. "I miss moments like Beckah's first birthday. I…I would do anything to have days like that again…when Peyton, Keith, Beckah and I were all happy and together. But those days are long gone and they're never coming back. And much of that is my own fault…"_

_Lucas let his voice trail off, taking a moment to reflect before continuing. "But that still doesn't give Peyton the right to want to take the kids and move half way across the world to freaking Australia! All because that damn fiance of hers took a job there! It's not right!"_

_Lucas shook his head and got up from his seat. "I can't finish this. I have to stop." _

_He then walked toward the camera, cut it off and the screen went back._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Riley ejected the dvd and walked up to the player. It was at that moment the office secretary Margaret entered into the room.

"The school sent over copies of the other four confessionals. Which one did you---"

"Haley James Scott's." Riley said cutting her off. "And…could I have Peyton Sawyer's as well?"

Margaret sifted through the dvds in her hand, handed him Haley and Peyton's reunion confessionals, and exited.

Riley stared long and hard at the two dvd's in his hand before deciding to place Peyton's on the desk. He removed Lucas's from the player, put in Haley's, took a seat back at the desk and hit play. He fast forwarded a bit and stopped the dvd a few minutes into the confessional.

_"I am a horrible person. I mean…how could I have done what I did?!"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_May 2012 – North Carolina_

_Peyton sighed. "I can't believe he's gone." _

_"Neither can I." Lucas said shaking his head. "Poor Brooke."_

_Peyton sat up and readjusted herself in her seat. "I can't believe they were able to arrange Chase's funeral for tomorrow morning. That's so fast. We were lucky to get seats on this flight to New York on such late notice. "_

_Lucas nodded. "I know. Too bad Haley has to wait and take that red eye."_

_"Yeah that sucks." _

_The two sat together in silence for a long while before Peyton spoke up. "Have you talked to Nathan? Is he going to be able to make the funeral at least?"_

_"Yeah and he thinks he'll make the wake too. He's playing in Jersey tonight and he told me he's going to take the subway into the city in the morning and will be there."_

_Peyton nodded. "That's good. Brooke's really going to need all of us there."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Haley glanced down at her cell. "Uh…I still have like three hours before they'll even think about letting me board."_

_She sighed and looked around Peyton's studio. "I guess I should try and keep myself occupied."_

_Haley walked up to the piano, sat down and began playing. _

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Eight hours later…_

_Haley, asleep at the piano, stirred and slowly awakened. She yawned, stretched and looked around. She then suddenly remembered._

_"Crap! My flight! Chase's funeral!"_

_She quickly picked up her cell, and noticed a ton of missed calls from Nathan, Lucas and Peyton. She quickly began to dial Nathan's cell, until she checked the time._

_"I can't call him, they're in the middle of the funeral!"_

_Haley hopped out of her seat, grabbed her purse, but accidentally left her cell, and exited the music studio._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_New York…_

_Lucas pulled his brother aside. "What the heck happened to Haley?!" _

_Nathan shook his head. "I have no idea. She's not here…she's not answering her cell. I'm freaking out right now."_

_Lucas and Nathan continued to look around the reception hall for Haley and a few minutes later she came running up to them._

_"You're here!" Nathan said taking his wife into his arms. "I was so worried. We were all worried. Are you okay? We tried calling. What happened?"_

_An extremely flustered Haley let go of Nathan and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm fine I…I just---"_

_"You what?" Lucas asked interrupting._

_Haley sighed. "I…I was at the music studio trying to by time until my flight and I…I ended up getting carried away and staying way longer than I anticipated and ended up…falling asleep. I w---woke up a few hours ago and I---"_

_"That's the reason you didn't show up?" Brooke asked cutting her off._

_Haley turned around and came face to face with her. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Brooke, I---I'm so sorry. You…you know I would never intentionally---"_

_"And to think I was worried about you." Brooke said shaking her head. "I figured…there was no way Haley wouldn't be here unless something horrible happened to her. But it turns out you were just too preoccupied with your music and falling asleep or whatever!"_

_"Brooke I---"_

_"Your husband…Mr. NBA over here somehow managed to get here because he...he knew how much I was hurting and how much I needed all of my friends here with me! It baffles me how the girl who swore up and down to me that I was her best girlfriend and that she'd always be here for me when I needed her fails to show up to my boyfriend's funeral! My God Haley…Chase was the love of my life! And he was your friend! How could you be so careless and just not show up?! How pissed would you be right now if it was Nathan who had died and I didn't show up to his funeral because I was busy sketching a new dress, lost track of time and fell asleep, huh?!"_

_Haley started crying. "I'm sorry Brooke! I'm sorry!"_

_Brooke shook her head. "After all I have done for you over the years, I…I have never asked for anything in return. But I hoped…I hoped the one time that I really did need you, that you would be there. But I guess I wasn't important enough. That's fine. But don't you dare try to make excuses for not being there when you know you should have. And don't keep telling me that you're sorry because your "sorry's" mean nothing. They are too little, two late." _

_Brooke brushed passed Haley in tears and ran toward the bathroom. Peyton followed right behind._

_Lucas shook his head. "I think I'll go and get some…punch or something."_

_He walked away, leaving Nathan and Haley alone._

_"She's never going to forgive me is she?"_

_Nathan sighed. "I don't know Hales. I don't know."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Brooke she…she had every right to be mad at me for what I did."_

_Haley paused for a moment and took in a deep breath. " I…I promised that I would be there for her when she needed me and I wasn't. I wasn't…"_

_Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Letting Brooke down was one of two of the biggest regrets of my life. The other…was hurting Beckah. I…I ruined that little girl and I hate myself for it."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Riley stopped Haley's dvd and ejected her disk. He walked up to the screen, removed Haley's disk from the player and inserted Peyton's. He fast forwarded through much of it and stopped about halfway through.

_"Things were finally starting to come together for me. I had a wonderful and loving husband. Two beautiful, happy and HEALTHY kids. And then Lucas became obsessed with our financial situation…."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_September 2012 – North Carolina_

_"Peyton they're driving me crazy!"_

_Peyton emerged in Lucas office a few moments later. She scooped up Beckah and took Keith by the hand. "Come on guys. Nap time!"_

_"No nap!" Keith yelled out._

_"Yes nap! Now let's go."_

_Peyton and the kids exited the room and returned a few minutes later, having put them down to sleep in their bedroom._

_"Luke, what's going on? Why are you so cranky?"_

_Lucas sighed. "I'm not, I'm just…frustrated is all. Look at this new bill from the hospital."_

_He handed Peyton the medical bill. She looked it over and her eyes widened in shock. _

_"Are there really as many zeros on here as I think there are?"_

_Lucas nodded. "Yeah. Peyton…what the heck are we going to do?! I mean, you're label is doing decent, but it's not enough. And I…I refuse to borrow any more money from Nathan or Brooke…they've both loaned us too much already. And when I say loan…I mean loan because we are paying them back at some point."_

_Lucas momentarily stopped his rambling and took in a deep breath before continuing. "An Unkindness of Ravens is getting released next January and it needs to sell. It needs to be a best seller. I…I didn't want to, but I really think I should do that book tour with Lindsey…it needs as much promotion as possible."_

_Peyton sighed and walked over to Lucas. She sat down on his lap. "How long would you be gone for?"_

_"I'm not sure." Lucas replied. "Hopefully not too long."_

_Peyton nodded and rested her head on his chest. "Then you should do it." _

_Lucas kissed Peyton on the cheek and stroked her hair. "Everything will work out. We'll be fine."_

_"I know we will be." Peyton said closing her eyes. "I know."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Boy were we wrong."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"What if I told you I thought you were the murderer?"

Nathan cleared his throat. "Well if you told me that I'd say you should handcuff me right now, throw me into a cell, hand the case over to your ADA and call it a day."

Moore stared long and hard into Nathan's cold and distant eyes, before finally getting up from his seat and heading toward the door. "I'll be in touch."

"I'm sure you will be."

Moore shook his head and quickly exited the house. He began speaking to himself as he made his way to his car. "He's fucking with me. Just like Brooke Davis did. Those two have been talking…it's like they planned out exactly what they would say to me. I…I have to figure this out and I have to do it soon."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Nathan picked up his cell and began dialing. "Brooke…it's me. Yeah, he just---it went fine I think, I stuck to the script..."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_"That book tour was the beginning of the end."_

_Peyton shook her head and tried to blink back tears. "But that was a long time ago. Now...I'm engaged to a man I love. But still…I'm not happy. I mean, how am I supposed to be happy when my daughter is so miserable and hates me!?"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_March 2017 _

_Beckah stared coldly into Peyton's eyes. "I wish you weren't my mommy!"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Peyton wiped away her tears. "And how am I supposed to be happy knowing I'm the reason that…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_2013_

_Nathan snickered evilly. "It's funny how you're the reason I'm lying here without a leg yet you somehow WALK away from the whole thing with nothing but a scratch on your damn cheek! Life as I knew it is gone Peyton! And it's all because of you."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you guys liked it! Alright we're shall I begin! SO much happened in this chapter! I think I'll start with the past. So back in February 2012, Naley reconciled and Beckah celebrated her first birthday with her big brother Keith by her side, showing her how to blow out her candle. So that means that Keith survived the transplant and is still alive and kicking. The one who died ended up being Chase later on in the year and Chase is what caused the rift between Haley and Brooke, since Brooke got upset Haley didn't make it to his funeral. Haley also mentioned how aside from the Brooke incident, the other big regret she has is hurting Beckah. How did she do that? In the past we also learned that Lucas is planning on doing a book tour in the beginning of 2013 as he really wants to make sure his book sells so he can pay back all the money he owes to the hospital and Nathan and Brooke. Peyton says the book tour is the beginning of the end for them. What happened? Peyton also goes on to briefly talk about her strained relationship with her daughter and reveals that she is the reason Nathan lost his leg. It's clear in her little flashback that Nathan blames her for it. Was it just because she was the one driving or was it because she was driving and the actual cause of the accident? Why were they driving together anyways? And what do you think of Nathan? He did the same thing Brooke did to Moore…he only talked about the past, was evasive, etc. Nathan called Brooke and told her he stuck to the script so what exactly are those two up to? And what do you think of Moore and Riley? They both seem to be on different pages…Moore focusing on Brooke and Nathan while Riley is concentrating on Lucas, Peyton and Haley. Who do you think is closer to figuring out the truth? The next suspect is to be revealed in the next chapter…who do you think it will be? Hmm. Please review with your thoughts/predictions! I love hearing what you guys think! Here are some previews for next time…**

**2013…**

**Lucas begins his book tour**

**the car accident**

**"You better not make me regret this."**

**Present Day… **

**Suspect #3 is revealed**


	7. It's Beginning To Get To Me

**It's Beginning To Get To Me**

Okay so I know I said I would reveal the next suspect, but this chapter would've been ridiculously long if I did, so you all with have to wait until next time, I'm sorry. But anyways, I hope you like this chapter. It's still pretty good I think. - Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Reunion__…_

_"ONE of these days Lucas Scott, karma's going to hit you and hit you hard." Brooke whispered into his ear. "And I'm going to laugh when it does."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Brooke stared long and hard at a photo of her and Lucas at the Honey Grove prom and began to cry softly. She let her mind wander off…

_March 2013 – __New York City_

"Daddy, I miss you!"

_Lucas sighed into his cell. "I miss you too son. So much. You and your sister take care of your mom for me, ok?"_

"Yes." Keith responded. "Goodnight."

_"Goodnight buddy."_

Peyton took the phone from her son and exited her children's' bedroom. "You still meeting up with Brooke for dinner?"

_"Yeah, whenever it is she makes it over here to the hotel. She's really late now."_

"She'll be there." Peyton said sighing. "Alright, I think I'll let you go."

_"No, no…Peyton we didn't even really talk. Are you okay? Are---"_

"I'm tired Lucas." Peyton said agitatedly. "Have you forgotten that I am here all alone with two hyperactive toddlers who are constantly vying for my attention?"

_"Peyton the tour's almost over."_

"It's always almost over. Then you go and add another date!"

_"Peyton you do realize why I'm doing this, right? I want to---"_

"I know, I know. Pay Nathan and Brooke back. Even though they told us a billion times that they're not going to take our money."

_Lucas sighed. "Peyton it's more than that. I...I want to be the one to provide and take care of OUR family. I don't want handouts from my brother and our friends. Can you understand that?"_

"Sure I can. But you're going overboard with this tour. You went from wanting to go to a couple of the major cities to going to ALL of the major cities as well as any other city or town across the country with a freaking Barnes & Nobles in it! It's getting ridiculous and the more I think and talk about it, the angrier I become so it'd probably be best if I just hung up now. Goodnight!" She then ended the call.

_Lucas stared at his cell for a while before finally closing it and tossing it on his bed. A few minutes later, it rang. Thinking it was Peyton calling back, he quickly ran to over to his bed to answer it. He flipped his phone open and sighed as he saw it was Brooke calling, but answered it anyway._

_"Hey Brooke, where are you?"_

"Stuck in traffic!" a frustrated Brooke told him. "There was an accident. I'm going to be at least another 20-25 minutes. I'm sorry."

_"That's okay. Just call me when you're here." He hung up the phone, closed his eyes and plopped down on his bed._

_Meanwhile Brooke, impatiently waiting in traffic, noticed a detour sign on the road. "Yes! I guess instead of 20, I'll be there in 10." She said to herself and took a right and followed the detour._

_Back in his hotel room, Lucas sat on his bed, staring aimlessly off into space, and thinking. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. _

_He got up to answer the door. "Brooke I thought you were going to be---oh Lindsey…hey…what are you doing here?"_

_Lindsey handed him some papers. "You forgot the itinerary for tomorrow. I had to pass by here on my way to a friend's house so I thought I'd drop it off to you."_

_Lucas set the papers on his dresser and sighed. "Thanks."_

_"Luke, are you okay?" asked a concerned Lindsey. _

_"I'm fine…just frustrated is all."_

_"I can see that. Something the matter with you and Peyton?"_

_Lucas sighed and took a seat on his bed. "She's…forget it, I really don't want to talk about it."_

_Lindsey nodded her head, walked over to Lucas and sat down on the bed next to him. "Then let's not talk about it."_

_Lindsey scooted closer over to Lucas, placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him. After a few seconds, he pulled away from her. "Why did you just kiss me?"_

_"Because I wanted to." Lindsey said staring into his eyes. "I have for a long time now. And you wanted me to kiss you too. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have let me do it."_

_"Lindsey I---"_

_She interrupted Lucas's words with another kiss, which this time he returned passionately and the two collapsed down onto the bed. They continued to kiss for a long while and just as Lindsey went to pull Lucas's shirt off, a cough came from the door. Lucas and Lindsey both popped up and saw Brooke standing before them._

_The brunette shook her head. "And you knew I was coming!"_

_Lucas hopped off the bed and ran over to her. "Brooke---"_

_"The next time you want to cheat on your wife, you might want to at least close the door so that her best friend doesn't walk in on you!"_

_Lindsey ran a hand through her hair, fixed her clothes and got up. "I should go."_

_Brooke shot her a dirty look. "Yeah, I suggest you do that."_

_Lindsey nodded, headed for the door and closed it shut as she exited the hotel room._

_Brooke placed her hands on her hips and glared at Lucas. "How could you? Seriously? My God Lucas, had I not walked in when I did you would've slept with that man-faced skank!"_

_Lucas buried his face into his hands and screamed out in frustration. "I never would've slept with her!"_

_"Sure." Brooke said doubtfully. "Keep telling yourself that if you want, but you and I both know that's bullshit."_

_"It was a mistake Brooke. I…I was upset and Lindsey…she was here and---"_

_Brooke cut him off. "Stop with the excuses. I can't believe that after all you and Peyton have been through over the years---school shootings, psycho stalkers, a sick near death son saved by your miracle daughter---after all of those things you do this to HER! The supposed love of your life!"_

_"Peyton IS the love of my life!" Lucas shouted_

_"Then why aren't you acting like she is?!"_

_A now teary-eyed Lucas shook his head. "I don't know. I…I---"_

_"Save it Lucas. I'm not the one you need to explain your actions to."_

_Lucas began to fervently shake his head. "No…Peyton can't know about this."_

_"Oh really?" Brooke asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure she will because if you don't tell her what you did, I will."_

_"It would crush her Brooke. It would destroy everything we have...my one moment of stupidity. Please don't say anything."_

_Brooke stared into Lucas's eyes and shook her head. "I'd be lying to her through omission. I can't do that."_

_"And I can't lose my family." Lucas responded. He started to plead. "I SWEAR to you Brooke, it was a one time thing that is NEVER going to happen again. Please don't tell her."_

_Brooke bit her lip and pondered for a long while before answering. "Telling Peyton about Lindsey…it would hurt her so much. The…last thing I want to do is break Peyton's heart."_

_"Does that mean---"_

_"I won't tell her." Brooke said interrupting. "But Lucas I swear to God you better not make me regret this because if you do---"_

_"You won't."_

_"Because if you do, I promise YOU'LL regret it. Just know that."_

_And with that Brooke headed for the door and slammed it on her way out._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Brooke placed the photo of her and Lucas back in the album. She then took out a photo of her, Peyton and Haley, taken at their end of senior year bonfire. She once again let her mind drift…

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Reunion__…_

_Haley sighed. "So what can I do to fix things between us?"_

_Brooke shook her head. "Nothing. Because to do that, you would have to go back in time and be at Chase's funeral. Which you can't do."_

_"Brooke---"_

_"Haley, stop. Just stop. I don't want to hear anything else you have to say because I really don't care enough about you to try and make things right between us. I just don't care. And I'm not the only one. If you were to die tomorrow, there would be so many that wouldn't even shed a tear over you."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_2013_

_"You knew!" Peyton cried out. "Lucas should've told me the truth, but I would think that if he didn't that my BEST friend…the girl I consider my sister…would tell me she knew my husband had been fucking his editor for months now!" _

_Peyton paused momentarily to wipe away her tears and try and regain her composure. "But y—you didn't. Never…did I think I would lose both my husband and my best friend in one day."_

_Brooke tried to blink back her tears. "Peyton, I'm sorry I---"_

_"It doesn't matter if you're sorry Brooke. It doesn't matter that Lucas is sorry. Because at the end of the day, whether one's sorry or not, it all still hurts the same."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Reunion__…_

_Peyton shook her head. "No!"_

_"Oh yes you are!" _

_Peyton stared long and hard at Brooke for before fixing her mouth to speak. "I…I have to go finish my confessional."_

_The blonde hurried off down the hall toward the reflection room._

_Brooke leaned up against a nearby wall and sighed. "I can't believe I'm going to do this, but…I am."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Brooke tried hard to blink back her tears as she placed the photo back in its place. She began sifting through the rest of the album, but came to a sudden halt when her eyes caught sight of a photo of her with Jamie, Keith and Beckah.

Brooke took the photo out and threw the album on the floor. She stared long and hard at the picture and tears began flooding from her eyes.

"Oh my God! H—how awful. To---to have to grow up without a----"

Brooke's words were cut off by the ringing of her cell. She quickly walked over to her night stand and answered it.

She began sniffling into the phone. "H—hey…I---no…no I'm not okay. This whole thing is really beginning to get to me and I…I don't know how I'm suppose to deal with everything. I…I can't."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay…so through Brooke we learn that in early 2013, Lucas goes on his extended book tour, much to the dismay of Peyton, and ended up cheating on her with Lindsey. Brooke catches him and after he pleads for her to not tell Peyton about his one moment of idiocy, Brooke gives in and decides to keep Lucas's infidelity a secret from her best friend. We also learned that Peyton will at some point find out about Lucas and Lindsey, though it's not clear how, and breaks her friendship off with Brooke after she somehow learns that she had known about Lucas and Lindsey long before her and never said anything. Brooke also reflects back to three encounters she had at the reunion: one with Haley, whom she told no one would miss her if she were to die and another with Peyton…it's clear the two were disagreeing about something, but about what isn't known. All that's known is that the conversation led Brooke to plan on doing something she couldn't believe she was going to do. The other was with Lucas…where she told him she couldn't wait for karma to hit him and that she was going to laugh when it did. However, thinking back to that conversation caused her to cry, as well as her reflections of past moments with Haley and Peyton. But nothing caused Brooke to cry more than when she saw that photo of her, Jamie, Keith and Beckah. Brooke's on the verge of losing it. Is she the murderer and feeling guilty about what she did? Or is she just sad because she said some terrible things she knows she'll never be able to take back? Will the person she's on the phone with calm her down? Is it Nathan? Or perhaps someone else? Hmm…please review with your thoughts/predictions…I greatly appreciate them! – Jasmine **

**Still to come…**

**Past…**

**The car accident**

**Peyton learns of Lucas's infidelity **

**The Lucas/Peyton/Haley/Beckah debacle **

**Present…**

**Something on someone's confessional dvd leaves Riley shocked**

**Nathan's mysterious envelope**

**The last two suspects will be revealed**

**The owner of the gun used in the killing is revealed (hint: it's one of the four!)**


	8. Damaged

**Damaged**

A/N: Okay…so this chapter is still SUPER long! Totally did not mean to make it this long, but whatever, you guys got lucky! lol. Anyways…I hope you like it! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Stay strong. I—I know it's hard. It's just as hard, IF not harder for me because---yeah I know, but we have to stay strong. And just remember…I'm here for you, okay? I'm here and I'm not going anywhere---alright, I'll see you then."

Nathan ended the call and placed his cell on the coffee table. He sat on his couch, staring aimlessly off into space. He removed the wedding ring from his finger, held it up and stared at it. He closed his eyes, kissed the ring and placed it back on his finger. After making sure his new prosthetic was securely in place, he got up from his spot on the couch. He walked toward his coat closet and began rummaging through his coat.

"Peyton told me she put it in here so where is it?"

Nathan felt around inside his jacket and in one of the pockets pulled out an envelope. He closed the closet, walked back over to the couch and sat back down.

He ripped open the envelope and scattered its contents beside him.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Peyton sighed. "March 18, 2013 is a day I will most likely never forget for as long as I live…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_March 2013 – North Carolina_

_Nathan hopped up from off the kitchen floor and shut the oven door."Well I think I've figured out what's wrong with your oven."_

_"What?" Peyton asked anxiously._

_"It's broken."_

_Peyton rolled her eyes. "Thanks for letting me know. I had no idea!"_

_Nathan chuckled. "I'm sorry I can't figure exactly WHAT is wrong with it, but---"_

_"It's okay Nathan. YOU shouldn't have to. Your brother should be here trying to figure it out."_

_Nathan sighed. "Is the tour almost over?"_

_"Supposedly it'll be done next week. I guess we'll see."_

_Nathan nodded. "Ok…so since you can't cook, why don't you join Haley and I for dinner?"_

_Peyton shook her head. "No, no---"_

_"Oh come on." Nathan said interrupting. "Keith and Beckah are spending the night with Karen, right? So instead of sitting around here hungry all by yourself, come to the house and eat with us."_

_Peyton pondered for a moment, before nodding. "Ok."_

_"Good." Nathan said, placing the screwdriver in his hand on the counter. "Let's go." _

_The two headed outside and hopped into Nathan's car. He put his key in the ignition, but couldn't get the car to start. Nathan looked around the car for a minute to see if he could figure out what was wrong._

_"Dammit I left my lights on. My battery's dead." He took the keys out the ignition. "Do you have jumper cables?"_

_Peyton shook her head. "No. I mean, I do, but they don't work."_

_Nathan sighed. "Great."_

_"Well at least it died in my driveway instead of someplace else. How about I drive us to your house, we eat, grab some jumper cables and come back and jump it."_

_Nathan nodded. "That works."_

_The two hopped out of Nathan's car and headed into the garage, where Lucas and Peyton park their cars. _

_"I guess it's our lucky day." Peyton said rummaging through her purse for her keys. _

_"Why do you say that?"_

_"Well since your car is blocking the SUV, we'll have to drive the comet!"_

_Nathan chuckled as he opened up the passenger side seat and sat down. "You sure do love this car, don't you?"_

_"Yup." Peyton said as she slid into the driver's side. "And considering it's not really family friendly, I hardly ever drive it anymore. I can't even remember the last time I did."_

_"Is it really all that safe to drive then?" Nathan asked her curiously. "Maybe I should just call Haley to come and get us."_

_"Eh, it's due for an inspection, but it's not like we're going far. Just a fifteen minute drive on the highway. We'll be fine."_

_Nathan nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Start it up."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Nathan, who had been busy texting, felt the car picking up speed. He looked over at his sister-in-law_

_"You should probably slow down."_

_Peyton slowly shook her head. "I…I can't."_

_Nathan sat up and eyed her curiously. "What do you mean you can't?"_

_Peyton pushed down on the brakes and then reached and tried the emergency brake. "Because the gas pedal is stuck and none of my brakes are working!"_

_Nathan began panicking. "TRY IT AGAIN!"_

_Nathan reached for the emergency brake from the passenger's seat and attempted to stop the out of control vehicle, but it failed to work._

_The car swerved into the opposite lane on the highway and then collided into a freight truck._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Ms, how are you feeling?" _

_Peyton stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at the paramedic in front of her. She sat up and looked around and suddenly remembered what had happened. She popped up from off the ground._

_"Nathan! Oh my God, where is he?"_

_"Ms, please---"_

_Peyton looked over at her dismantled comet and the truck it collided with and saw a bunch of paramedics in a circle by the wreckage. She raced to them._

_"Where is…"_

_Peyton let her voice trail off and covered her mouth in shock as she saw an unconscious Nathan pinned underneath the dismantled truck._

_"NATHAN!"_

_Peyton tried to get to him, but the paramedics grabbed her and took her away._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_The next morning…_

_Peyton began fluttering her eyes and slowly opened them as Lucas rushed to his wife's bedside. "Peyton, you're awake. Gosh, I was so worried about you. I flew back here as soon as I heard."_

_Her eyes scanned the hospital room. "When did I---"_

_"You were pretty hysterical at the scene." Lucas interrupted. He began stroking her cheek gently. "They gave you a sedative to calm you down. You've been out since last night."_

_Peyton swatted Lucas's hand away and sat up. "But why am I here?! I am FINE!"_

_"You are. The doctors just wanted to make sure though, so they kept you overnight for observation."_

_"What about Nathan?! Where is he?! Is he ok?!"_

_Lucas sighed. "He's down the hall."_

_Peyton pulled her covers back and got out of the bed. "I have to see him."_

_"Peyton it's not a good idea to see him right now." _

_Lucas tried to physically stop her from leaving the room, but Peyton pushed him off of her and she headed out of her room and down the hall in search of Nathan._

_She poked her head into a couple of rooms before she finally noticed Haley sitting in a chair in one of them. She slowly entered into it._

_Haley looked up. "Peyton…"_

_Peyton fixed her mouth to respond, but her words were cut off by Nathan._

_"I don't know why I listened to you." Nathan said quietly as he stared at the ceiling from his bed. "We should have Haley pick us up. But instead I let you persuade me into getting in that faulty comet of yours."_

_Tears began to well up in Peyton's eyes. "Nathan I---"_

_"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Nathan flung back his covers and revealed his missing right leg, which had been amputated below the knee. "THERE WAS NO WAY THEY COULD SAVE MY LEG AFTER IT HAD BEEN COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED WHILE I HAD BEEN PINNED UNDERNEATH ALL THE WRECKAGE!"_

_Peyton covered her hands with her mouth and gasped in fright._

_Nathan snickered evilly. "It's funny how you're the reason I'm lying here without a leg yet you somehow WALK away from the whole thing with nothing but a scratch on your damn cheek! Life as I_ _know it is gone Peyton! And it's all because of you."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Peyton began crying. "I---I never should've tried to convince him to ride with me in that car! In a second I ruined everything he had worked his entire life for: his basketball career. I'll never forgive myself for what happened to him. And I'm sure he's never going to forgive me for it either."_

_Peyton put her face in her hands and began sobbing._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Her part two dvd only runs for a little over an hour. It's almost done. She probably just cried out the rest of it."

Riley began sifting through the pile of dvd's on the desk. "I think I'll stop hers and put Haley's back in."

He grabbed Haley's confessional dvd and began walking to the player to take Peyton's out and put hers in.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Riley."

Riley hopped from his seat. "Detective Moore. You're finally here! Listen I've been watching some of the dvd's and you're not going to believe what I heard on one of them."

"Who's?" Moore asked curiously.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Later that night…_

Moore and Riley walked into the interrogation room, where suspect #3 was waiting for them.

Moore stared long and hard at the hoodie-covered adult before him, though he could not see the individual's face.

He pulls out a chair and sits down across from the suspect. "So I've been talking around…watching your dvd…and all of the others and I heard this interesting story. Let me tell you about it…"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_November 2016 – North Carolina_

_"I'm glad you and Jamie decided to join my brood for Thanksgiving."_

_Haley smirked. "Well considering the fact that Jamie ruined our turkey, I was coming to your house anyways, whether invited or not!"_

_Lucas chuckled and the two friends headed off outside to the lanai in the back of the house.._

_"I'm really surprised Peyton agreed to come." Lucas said as he grabbed a chair and sat down. He took a sip of his drink and set it down on the table in front of him._

_Haley shook her head as she took a seat across from Lucas.. "I'm not. I mean, the kids really wanted her to right? So of course she would come."_

_Lucas nodded. "Yeah, you're right."_

_"Speaking of Peyton, what is taking her and Beckah so long to get back from the grocery store?"_

_"Are you seriously even asking? I'm sure Beckah got Peyton sidetracked as usual. Hopefully they'll be back with the things I forgot soon though."_

_Haley nodded and the two sat together in silence for a while, before Lucas spoke up._

_"So how's that brother of mine doing? Where's he spending the holiday?"_

_Haley shrugged. "He's spending Thanksgiving with Deb in Charlotte. And I guess he's fine. It is just so incredibly hard to be around him sometimes though. Still after all this time, he'll just get into these depressing, bitchy moods over his leg and I don't know how much longer I can take him snapping at me every time we pass by a basketball court or watch a movie and see someone playing. And what really bothers me is how he won't make an effort to reach back out to Peyton. He's made such positive progress physically, but it's like he still holds a grudge against her and I don't know if he'll ever let it go and he needs to."_

_"So that's the reason he didn't want to come tonight? Because Peyton's coming?"_

_"Eh, partly." Haley said as she absent mindedly played with her necklace. "You know he still thinks you're kind of a jackass."_

_Lucas sighed. "Who doesn't."_

_"Me." Haley stated matter-of-factly. "Beckah…Keith. Speaking of Keith, Peyton told me that about the scare she had with him. Something about him testing positive for---"_

_"T.B. I nearly passed out when she told me. Thank God it was a false positive. If he were to ever get sick again with his anemia or something else…"_

_"Lucas…let me ask you something and I want you to answer honestly."_

_He eyed her curiously. "Okay I will."_

_"What if Keith were to get sick again? Like really sick again and needed another stem-cell transplant or something else? Have you and Peyton ever talked about what you would do?"_

_"You want to know if we'd use Beckah again?"_

_Haley nodded her head._

_Lucas thought long and hard before answering. "Peyton and I have talked about that and…we hope that if something were to happen with Keith and Beckah could help him, that she would want to. But if she didn't, we'd never force her to. It's not her job to put her life on hold and/or at risk whenever her brother needs saving."_

_Haley nodded. "Have you guys figured out what you're going to tell her?"_

_Lucas sat up in his chair. "Beckah knows that Keith had been sick and she was able to help him. She's five…she doesn't need to know much more until she's older. If Beckah were to find out about the details of everything now, while she's still so young, she might take it the wrong way and that's the last thing I would want to happen."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Mommy, let's go! Daddy's waiting!"_

_"You go on ahead Beckah." Peyton said as she handed her daughter the can of cranberry sauce. "I'll be in in a minute. I have to clean off this seat cushion first."_

_Beckah nodded and skipped toward the house._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Can we please move on to another subject now?"_

_"But what exactly will you say to her when the time DOES comes?"_

_Lucas sighed. "The time isn't going to be tomorrow, so let's just drop this."_

_Haley shook her head. "No Luke, you should really start thinking about it---"_

_Lucas's eyes widened and he interrupted her words by whispering sternly. "Haley, shut up!"_

_"Because there's always the chance that Beckah might find out that the reason you and Peyton decided to have her was SO she could save Keith and---"_

_Haley's words were interrupted by a dropping sound from behind her. She turned around and saw Beckah standing before her._

_"Is that true Daddy?"_

_Lucas rushed over to Beckah and bent down to her eye level. "Beckah---"_

_"It is." Beckah said interrupting, the tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Aunt Haley wouldn't have said it if it wasn't!"_

_Lucas was about to fix his mouth to respond, but it was at that moment that Peyton walked into the house and Beckah immediately ran into the living room to meet her._

_"Beckah, what's wrong?" Peyton asked her daughter worriedly._

_The little girl began to sniffle. "Aunt…Aunt H—Haley said that…y—you and Daddy only wanted…m---me so I could help Keith because he was sick."_

_Peyton's jaw dropped and she turned her attention to Lucas who was making his way towards them. He tried once more to explain the situation to his daughter._

_"Beckah---"_

_"You…you two say all the time how y—you wish Keith had never gotten sick. But if he hadn't…I…I wouldn't be here, would I?"_

_Peyton bent down in front of her daughter. "Beckah, your Daddy and I…we didn't mean it like---"_

_"Yes…you did!" the little girl shouted out to her parents. She began wiping away the tears from her face. "You…you don't love me like you love Keith! You don't love me at all!"_

_Beckah ran over to the opposite side of the living room and began crying uncontrollably. Peyton immediately rushed over to her daughter and sought to comfort her, but Beckah wouldn't have any of it._

_"No!" She screamed out, pushing Peyton away from her. "Don't touch me!"_

_A shocked Peyton turned and looked over at Lucas, who ran over to her and Beckah. He attempted to embrace the little girl, but she shoved him off of her too._

_"Beckah…" Lucas said pleading. "Honey…please talk to us. We love---"_

_"NO YOU DON'T!" Beckah yelled out. "And guess what? I don't love you either! I…I HATE you! I hate BOTH of you!"_

_Beckah then brushed passed her parents, exited the living room and headed upstairs. She moved Jamie, who with Keith had come out of the playroom to see what all the yelling was about, out of her way and headed towards her brother._

_Beckah pushed Keith hard into the wall, knocking him down. "You…you better HOPE that you never get sick again because I won't help you next time! I guess Mommy and Daddy will have to have another baby to save you!"_

_She then ran into her bedroom and slammed the door. Jamie tried to open it, but couldn't. He hollered down to Lucas and Peyton. "She locked the door!"_

_Both Lucas and Peyton jetted up the stairs and headed straight toward their daughter's room and tried to get her to open up._

_"Beckah, please unlock the door and let us in!" Peyton cried out._

_After it was obvious that she wasn't going to, Lucas whipped out his cell and handed it over to Peyton. "She'll open it for my mom. Call her and tell her to get over here!"_

_Peyton nodded and began dialing, while Lucas went back downstairs and headed for the kitchen. He came face to face with Haley._

_"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?!" Lucas shouted out at her. "DID YOU THINK I WHISPERED TO YOU TO SHUT UP FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON?! NOW MY 5-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HAS LOCKED HERSELF IN HER BEDROOM…DEVASTATED BECAUSE SHE THINKS PEYTON AND I DON'T LOVE HER!"_

_Haley shook her head and_ _buried her face into her hands. "I thought you had wanted me to stop because you just didn't want to hear what I had to say. I had no idea---"_

_"I don't want to hear it Haley!" Lucas interrupted. "I didn't want to hear what you had to say then and I sure as hell don't want to hear what you've got to say now!"_

_It was at that moment a furious Peyton entered into the kitchen. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY TO MY DAUGHTER HALEY?!"_

_"I didn't say anything to her. She---she overheard me talking about why you had her and---"_

_Lucas cut her off. "BECKAH WASN'T EVEN HERE WHEN I FIRST ASKED YOU TO DROP THE SUBJECT. HAD YOU LISTENED TO ME THEN SHE NEVER WOULD HAVE OVERHEARD ANYTHING. HAD YOU LISTENED TO ME WHEN I ASKED YOU A SECOND TIME SHE NEVER WOULD HAVE OVERHEARD. HAD YOU LISTENED WHEN I QUIETLY ASKED YOU FOR A THIRD TIME TO SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH SHE NEVER WOULD HAVE OVERHEARD!"_

_Haley didn't respond to Lucas's words. She instead just kept shaking her head and cried._

_"Don't you DARE cry!" Peyton shouted. "Because unlike my daughter your world hasn't been shattered into a million pieces! BECKAH HATES US! SHE HATES KEITH! SHE THINKS WE DON'T LOVE HER! BECAUSE OF YOU BECKAH FOUND OUT ABOUT EVERYTHING BEFORE SHE WAS OLD ENOUGH TO REALLY UNDERSTAND IT ALL AND __IN A WAY__ THAT MAKES HER FEEL USED AND UNLOVED!"_

_Haley sighed. "Beckah's upset, but…deep down she knows you love her."_

_Lucas chucked evilly. "KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT IF YOU WANT TO HALEY! BUT YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT, CONSIDERING HER OUTBURST, CLEARLY SHE DOESN'T!"_

_Haley was about to respond, when the three heard a knock on the front door. Lucas and Peyton both rushed to answer it. _

_Lucas opened the door and sighed in relief at the sight of his mother. "Mom, thank God you're here."_

_Karen nodded and entered into the house. "She really won't come out?"_

_Peyton shook her head. "No."_

_Karen headed toward the staircase, walked up the steps and went straight to her granddaughter's room. "Beckah…its Grandma. Will you open the door for me?"_

_A couple of minutes passed by, but Beckah did eventually open up the door for Karen. She sniffled as the tears continued to fall from her eyes. "I don't want to stay here Grandma!"_

_"Oh honey…." Karen lifted Beckah up into her arms._

_The two walked back down the stairs and into the living room where Lucas and Peyton stood waiting._

_Karen stroked the little girl's hair. "I'm going to take her home with me for a little while, ok?"_

_Peyton reached her hand out to Beckah, who just swatted it away. She sighed. "That's…pr—probably best."_

_She then hurried out of the room in tears and ran to the bathroom. _

_Lucas sighed and nodded, giving his mother the go ahead to take Beckah and the two headed out together._

_A heartbroken Lucas just stood in place, staring aimlessly off into space. He finally turned around and saw Haley standing before him. He walked up to her and whispered into her ear. "You damaged my daughter's heart Haley. Don't think I'm ever going to forget that you did that. Because I never will."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore got up from his seat. "Never did I think after hearing that story…"

Moore let his voice trail off as he got up from his seat and walked over to the suspect.

"That if someone were to tell me that one of you three would be murdered that YOU wouldn't be the victim."

He pulled the hoodie off of the individual's head and stared into the eyes of Haley James Scott. "Is there anything you would like to tell me Mrs. Scott?"

Haley sighed and closed her eyes. She thought back to her husband's soothing words…

_"Just remember…I'm here for you, okay? I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."_

Haley opened up her eyes and cleared her throat. "Yes…there is something I would like to tell you."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Okay…so there it is! Let me start from the beginning. Nathan is confronting someone on the phone, a certain someone I'm sure you all thought was Brooke at first. And it appears as though whatever problems he had with his wife before, he's brushing them to the side and trying to be comforting and supportive. We also learned that Nathan's mysterious envelope…though mysterious to you all…was not so mysterious to him. He knew all about this envelope from Peyton. What do you think was inside? When was it given to him? In the past we learned about the car accident. Peyton convinced Nathan to drive in the comet with her, though he was a little unsure about it considering the fact it hadn't been driven that often and needed an inspection. They ended up crashing, Nathan's legs got pinned underneath the wreckage and he ended up losing the right one and blaming Peyton for it. Another interesting fact…Riley heard something interesting on someone's dvd, but who's? He was about to take Peyton's out and put Haley's in, but did he? Did something on Peyton's catch his eye as he was about to change it? Or was it something on Haley's dvd? Do you think it was the Beckah story or perhaps something else? And what do you think of the Beckah thing? Apparently Lucas and Haley were talking about the whole Keith sickness thing and though he wanted to drop it, she kept pushing to find out what he would tell Beckah in the future and Beckah ended up overhearing her Aunt's words and had a total breakdown…crying, shouting, shoving Lucas and Peyton away from her, knocking Keith down. Peyton was devastated. Lucas was pissed and told Haley that he was never going to forget the day she broke his daughter's heart. And last but most certainly not least…Haley was revealed as the THIRD suspect…though Moore did tell Nathan earlier that his suspect order isn't arranged the way he thinks it is. Anyway…either Lucas or Peyton is the victim. Any guesses which one? And what is it Haley plans on telling Moore and Riley? Hmmm…please review with your thoughts/predictions! I greatly appreciate them! – Jasmine

**Still to come…**

**Moore plays Haley a portion of her confessional tape in which she describes an intense encounter she has with both Lucas AND Peyton during the reunion. **

**Nathan and Brooke meet up**

**An appearance from Mouth and Skills…could either one of them provide any helpful information?**

**In the past…**

**Peyton learns about Lucas and Lindsey and has it out with him**

**Quote teasers that might not make much sense right now…**

**"Because when you see someone trip, although you'll probably laugh at them at first, you're always the first one to reach out a hand to help them up."**

**"Because of the way you twitch your nose like a little bunny whenever you smell something you don't like."**

**"Brooke's right. I...I am."**

**"Make that dream of yours come true."**

**"You can't fight the moonlight."**

**"Because instead of killing spiders or any other creepy crawlers you let them free outside."**

**"Because when Emily dropped her popsicle, you split yours in half and shared it with her."**

**"It was me. I did it."**


	9. When Doves Cry

**When Doves Cry**

A/N: So this is officially the longest chapter I have ever written for any fan fic. I wrote some of it while I was a wee bit tipsy and the rest of it while recovering, but I still think it's pretty good! Lol. Anyways, I hope you all like it! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"How do you think Haley's going to do?"

Nathan shook his head as he plopped down next to Brooke on his couch. "I have no idea. But I'm kind of worried she might accidentally say the wrong thing."

"Yeah, me too." Brooke said shaking her head. "My God I am praying that things go the way we want them to because if they don't and the truth somehow comes out---"

"It won't." Nathan said interrupting. He got up from his spot on the couch. "Now…I need to show you some things."

He then exited out of the living room and headed down the hallway.

Brooke sighed and let her mind wander…

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Reunion…_

_Brooke leaned up against a nearby wall and sighed. "I can't believe I'm going to do this, but…I am."_

_Brooke straightened out her clothes and headed back into the crowded hall of alumni. Her eyes scanned the room and although it took her a long while to find him, her eyes eventually rested on Lucas, who she saw standing alone by the punch table. She walked up to him._

_"I heard you were dying to get into the confessional room earlier so I thought I'd let you know that it's free and all yours."_

_"Really?" Lucas asked as he placed his cup down on the table. "You sure no one's in there?"_

_"Yup. Go for it."_

_Lucas shouted out to Brooke as she began walking away. "Thanks…for letting me know."_

_Brooke stopped and turned around. She nodded her head at him, turned back around and continued on walking._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Haley opened up her eyes and cleared her throat. "Yes…there is something I would like to tell you."

"And what would that be?"

Haley took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly and tried to find the right words to say but couldn't manage to get them out.

"Some time today please Mrs. Scott."

Haley started to stutter. "I---I…"

"Spit whatever it is you have to say out!" Moore shouted.

Haley grew teary-eyed. "I…I…"

Moore shook his head and yelled over to Riley. "Give me the photo!"

Riley reached into his pocket, pulled out a picture, walked over to Moore and handed it to him.

Moore slammed the photo down on the table, right in front of Haley. "Look at your niece and nephew!"

Haley slowly picked up the photograph of Keith and Beckah and began to cry. "Those…poor things…"

"That's right…those poor things! And you know what Haley? Eventually those poor things…Keith and Rebecca…they're going to grow up and they're going to want to know what happened! THOSE KIDS DESERVE TO KNOW WHO TOOK THEIR *******AWAY FROM THEM! AND I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP UNTIL I FOUND OUT WHO DID! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

The tears continued to pour down Haley's face, but she remained quiet.

Moore sighed. He got up from his chair and walked over to the television screen. "Let's watch a portion of your reunion dvd, shall we?"

Moore bent down and hit the play button.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Haley stopped twirling her hair and sighed. "So umm I know this reflection room is really to talk about things that happened in the past ten years but…I just had this little "discussion" with Lucas and Peyton that I really just need to vent about…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Lucas slid a shot over to his ex. _

_Peyton looked at it and slid it back over to him. "No thanks."_

_"It's a peace offering. Take it."_

_"I don't want it."_

_Lucas sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you about Australia, ok? It's just---"_

_Lucas's apology was interrupted by a coughing sound coming from behind them. Both blondes turned around and saw Haley standing before them._

_"I would like to talk to the both of you one last time. If after what I have to say you still want nothing to do with me…fine. I'll leave you both alone…for good."_

_Lucas glanced over at Peyton who, after taking a minute to think about it, rolled her eyes, but did nod her head in agreement. She got up from her stool at the bar and headed out of the room. Lucas then got up from his own seat and him and Haley followed Peyton._

_The three ended up outside and after a long moment of silence, Haley spoke up. "So…I just wanted to say for…like the millionth time that I…am sorry. From the BOTTOM of my heart. You two have to know that I would never intentionally do anything to hurt Beckah. I umm…I actually made something for her---"_

_"Beckah doesn't need anything from you Haley!" Peyton snapped. _

_Haley sighed. "But I think it might make her feel better and---"_

_"No it won't." Lucas said interrupting. "Because NOTHING we've done has! Beckah STILL thinks Peyton and I love and value Keith more than her! My God if you had just SHUT your mouth!"_

_Haley shook her head in frustration. "I'm not going to let you guys do this to me anymore."_

_Peyton rolled her eyes. "Do what!?"_

_"Make me into this monster that I'm not!" Haley shouted out. "You two are acting like I purposely went out of my way to try and hurt that little girl when I didn't! I would never! UGH…I am so freaking tired of the way the two of you have treated me over these last couple of months over something that I have apologized countless times for! Especially after all that I have done for you over the years! I mean who flew out to California to help you take care of Beckah after she was born? ME! Peyton…who ran your label for over a YEAR while you were going through everything with Keith! ME! Who's shoulder did you cry on after you found out about Lindsey! MINE! And Lucas…who's shoulder did YOU cry on after Peyton left your ass because of your cheating! MINE! Does that not mean anything to the two of you?!"_

_Peyton and Lucas both stared at Haley, but remained silent. Haley continued her rant._

_"I guess it doesn't. Fine whatever. Just know that I'm not going to take it anymore. The attitude, the uncalled for bitchiness…I'm not. Not from YOU Peyton! And Lucas…"_

_Haley stopped talking and walked up to Lucas and glared into his eyes. " Most certainly not from YOU because you and I have gone through TOO MUCH together over the years for you to treat me the way you have been and I'm not going to stand for it ANY longer! Know that!"_

_Haley pushed Lucas out of her way and headed back inside._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"Yeah that was kind of…intense. But I meant EVERYTHING I said. I meant every single word. Lucas and Peyton…they make me want to strangle them! Seriously, I was so close to literally doing…"_

_Haley let her voice trail off. She just shook her head and got up from her seat. "I think I've had enough of this confessional thing. I---"_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore hit the pause button on the remote and threw it on the table.

"So tell me Haley…you were so close to literally doing what?"

Haley remained silent.

Moore became agitated. He repeated his question. "You were so close to literally doing what?"

Haley wiped a tear away from her face, but said nothing.

Moore sighed and walked over to Riley.

"We're not getting anywhere with her tonight." Moore whispered into his ear. "Let's continue interrogating her tomorrow, along with the others. All four of them…together. And once we get all four of them in here…none of them will be leaving this room until we find out which one's a murderer."

Riley nodded. "So when do you want to do this?"

Moore pondered briefly, before answering. "Tomorrow morning after the funeral."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore had returned to his office to collect his things before going home. As he headed for the door to leave, he turned back around and headed toward the television set.

"Before I go, I think I'll check out the end of Sawyer's dvd…see what Riley was talking about."

He turned the tv on, hit the power button on the dvd player and pushed play.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Peyton lifted her head up from her hands and tried to regain her composure. "Nathan's accident really got to me. I felt so incredibly bad and I didn't know how to live with all the guilt I felt…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_April 2013 – North Carolina_

_Peyton wiped away a tear from her eye as she sat on the window sill, staring at the rain falling outside. Lucas sighed as he watched her from afar, while washing dishes. He was about to stop and enter into the living room to go talk to her, when he saw Beckah run into the room and over to Peyton._

_Beckah pulled on Peyton's skirt. "Don't be sad Mama. Be happy." She handed Peyton her stuffed duck._

_Peyton smiled softly and lifted her daughter up into her arms. She kissed her little girl's cheek. "I love you, you know that?"_

_Beckah rested her head on Peyton's chest. "I love you."_

_The two sat together for a long while before Peyton said to her daughter. "You don't have to stay with me. You can go and play with Keith if you want. I'll be okay."_

_Beckah pondered for a minute before agreeing. "Kay. But you keep Lucy."_

_Peyton nodded and hugged her little girl tightly. "Thank you." She set the toddler down on the floor and Beckah ran off to the next room._

_Once Lucas finished putting away the dishes, he decided to check on the kids and poked his head into their playroom, where he found them playing together quietly. He then walked into the living room, grabbed a chair, pulled it beside Peyton and sat down._

_"Peyt, you've got to stop beating yourself up about the whole Nathan thing. It was an accident."_

_"An accident that in an instant destroyed everything he's ever worked for." Peyton said as she absent mindedly played with Beckah's stuffed duck "An accident I caused."_

_"But you didn't."_

_"But I did." _

_She sat up and placed the duck on the sill. Lucas got up from his chair and tried to put his arms around his wife, but she shoved him away and walked out of the room._

_Lucas sighed, sat back down in his chair and began staring aimlessly out of the window. "God I wish she would just let me in and stop pushing me away."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_"I guess I was sort of…pushing him away, but still for him to do what he did to me after everything we've been through over the years felt like such a slap in the face."_

_Peyton paused momentarily before continuing. "I eventually got Lucas to tell me about the day…only a couple of days after the one I just described…in which he crossed the line to the point of no return. Why I don't know. Especially considering the fact that for months afterwards the image of him and Lindsey together just played over and over again in my head like a broken record…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_April 2013 – North Carolina_

_"Thanks again for coming here to Tree Hill to meet with me about the new book."_

_Lindsey nodded. "Yeah, sure."_

_She sighed. "Ok…I should head back up to my room to finish packing. I'll look over you're manuscript some more, though it looks great. I probably won't have to do much editing this time around. You've become an amazingly talented writer Lucas Scott."_

_Lindsey hopped up from her seat and began exiting the empty hotel lounge, when Lucas grabbed her arm to stop her. "Lindsey wait…"_

_She turned around to face him. "What is it?"_

_Lucas remained quiet. He stared at her for a long while before he took his hand, caressed her cheek, leaned in and kissed her. _

_"You shouldn't have done that Lucas, but…"_

_"But what?"_

_"I'm really glad you did."_

_Lindsey grabbed Lucas's face and kissed him passionately. She then took his hand and led him down the hall into her room and closed the door._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Peyton wiped away a loose tear that had fallen from her eye. "Unbelievable, right? And then for me to find out about them on my BIRTHDAY?!"_

_She shook her head and scoffed. "Well that was just the icing on top of the cake…"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_July 2013 – North Carolina_

_Haley scanned the crowded restaurant and found Peyton sitting alone at the bar._

_"Hey. Happy Birthday! Even though it's not technically you're birthday for another three hours, but---"_

_"Thanks Haley." Peyton said, interrupting her rambling. She smiled. "Now come join me for some margaritas!"_

_Haley nodded and took a seat next to her at the bar. "Ok, but I'm paying of course." She then directed her attention to the bartender and ordered two strawberry margaritas. _

_A few minutes later the bartender returned with their drinks. The girls tipped their glasses and took a sip._

_"Mmm…this is good." Haley said as she placed her drink down. "So Lucas is getting back from New York later on tonight, right? What does he have planned for tomorrow?"_

_Peyton shrugged. "I don't know, but it better be something spectacular!"_

_Haley shook her head. "24…you are getting so old Peyton."_

_Peyton chuckled. "Well considering the fact that you've been 24 since January, I'm pretty sure you're just ancient."_

_Haley rolled her eyes in jest as she took another sip of her margarita. _

_"So…Nathan's birthday was last week. How was it? I tried calling his cell a bunch of times to wish him a happy one, but as you know he's still---"_

_"Not returning your calls." Haley said interrupting. "I know. Just give him a little bit more time Peyton. He'll come around."_

_Peyton nodded and began playing with her straw. _

_"I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a second." Haley got up from her seat and headed toward the bathroom area._

_Peyton continued to sip on her margarita until she heard her cell ringing. She placed the drink on the table and began rummaging through her purse. She found it and saw that it was Lucas. She smiled and picked it up._

_"Hey Luke I…"_

_Peyton's voice trailed off. "Did his phone accidentally call me? Lucas…hello?"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_New York Airport Lobby…_

_"It's too bad you had to cut this trip so short." Lindsey said sighing._

_"Yeah well I need to get back." Lucas said, checking his watch._

_"But the next time you come…" Lindsey began as she kissed Lucas's cheek. "There better be less work and more play time in bed."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_North Carolina…_

_Peyton's jaw dropped as she flipped her cell shut. A few seconds later, Haley emerged from the bathroom and sat down._

_She eyed Peyton curiously. "Is something wrong?"_

_The blonde slowly put her cell back in her purse and got up from her seat. "I…I have to go. I'm sorry."_

_Peyton then left Haley at the bar and headed for the restaurant's exit._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_New York…_

_"Lindsey do you know why it is I need to get back to Tree Hill?" Lucas asked as he picked up his bag and got up from his seat._

_She fixed her lips to respond, but Lucas cut her off._

_"It's Peyton's birthday tomorrow." He shook his head and sighed. "What the heck have I been doing these past three months?!_

_"Having fun with me?"_

_"No…I've been betraying my wife…the mother of my children…the love of life and I'm not going to do it any longer. You and me…we're done."_

_Lindsey sighed. "Lucas but---"_

_"No but's." Lucas said interrupting. "This…thing we had never should've started and I'm truly ashamed of myself for continuing with it for as long as I did. We're done…personally and professionally. Goodbye."_

_Lucas began walking towards the terminal to board his flight when Lindsey shouted out to him. "Lucas!"_

_He turned around. "What?"_

_"Your cell." She said as she picked it up from off the seat he had just vacated. She sighed as she walked up to him and handed it over. "It must've slipped out of your pocket or something when you first sat down."_

_Lucas took his phone from her and continued on his way._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Much later that night in North Carolina…_

_Lucas quietly opened up the front door of his house and entered. He set his bags near the door and made his way into the kitchen where he found Peyton sitting in the dark, at the table._

_"Hey you're still awake." He made his way over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "Happy Birthday."_

_"How was New York?" Peyton asked as she fiddled around with the lighter in her hand._

_Lucas took a seat down across from her. "It was okay, but let's not talk about---"_

_"I bet Lindsey kept you pretty busy, huh?"_

_"Well she---"_

_"But just what exactly were you busy doing Lucas?" Peyton asked as she placed the lighter down and got up from her seat._

_She glared into her husband's eyes. "Busy working on the last finishing touches to that new book of yours? Or were you busy FUCKING Lindsey?!"_

_Lucas's eyes widened in shock. "Peyton, I---"_

_"The next time you come there better be less work and more play time in bed."_

_"How do you know that she---"_

_Peyton grabbed her cell from off the nearby counter and threw it at him. "YOUR CELL ACCIDENTATLY CALLED MINE AND I HEARD THAT SLUTTY EDITOR OF YOURS REVEAL YOUR DIRTY LITTLE SECRET!"_

_Lucas sighed. "Peyton---"_

_"How long?" Peyton asked, the tears now pouring down her face. "How long have you been sleeping with her?"_

_Lucas shook his head. "Almost three months."_

_Peyton wiped away a tear from her face. "How could you do this to me?"_

_"Peyton---"_

_"After EVERYTHING we've been through together…psychos, shootings, Keith's illness! My God Lucas, do I mean anything to you at all?! What about Keith and Beckah?!"_

_Lucas began blinking back tears. "You all mean the world to me!"_

_Peyton shook her head. "Then why'd you do it!? Tell me why! And why Lindsey! What does she have that I don't?! D---do you find her smarter than me? Am I—am I not…attractive to you anymore?!"_

_Lucas shook his head, got up from his seat and walked over to his wife. He placed his hands on her cheeks and stared into her eyes. "There is no one I find more beautiful or intelligent than you Peyton."_

_Peyton removed his hands from her face. "Then WHY?!"_

_Lucas sighed. "I…I don't know. It's just…after the car accident you…you had just b—become so distance. And I know that's no excuse---"_

_"You're absolutely right…that is NO EXCUSE! Because instead of going off and having an affair because you were lonely you should've tried being understanding and patient with me! And you know why?"_

_Peyton paused momentarily, lifted up her left hand and pointed to her wedding ring. "Because you made a vow to me Lucas! To always be there for me…for better or worse! You say I mean to the world to you?! CLEARLY I don't or you never would've done what you did!"_

_Lucas began vehemently shaking his head. "No Peyton, you do. That's why I broke things off with Lindsey tonight. I don't want her, I want you. I am in love with you! And I'm so sorry that I hurt you."_

_"You're only sorry you got caught." Peyton said as she sniffed and wiped away her tears. "Even if I thought that you really were it doesn't matter, you know why?! Because you and me…we're done!"_

_She pulled off her wedding ring and threw it at him. "Now get out!"_

_Peyton began pushing Lucas out of the kitchen and toward the front door. "I don't care where you go…your mom's, Nathan and Haley's…I don't care. Just get out of my house!"_

_She opened up the door, pushed Lucas outside, slammed the door and locked it. _

_Peyton fell to the floor and began crying uncontrollably. After a long while she finally got up and walked back into the kitchen. She picked her cell up from the floor and dialed Brooke._

"Hello?" Brooke said groggily into the phone.

_"Brooke it's…me, Peyton. I know it's really late, but---"_

"No, it's fine. Peyton, are you okay? You sound---"

_Peyton cut her off. "Lucas has been cheating on me."_

Brooke's jaw dropped and she sat up in her bed. "What?!"

_Peyton sniffed into the phone. "He…he's b—been having sex with that…skanky editor of his for months now."_

"Unbelievable." Brooke said shaking her head. She muttered under her breath. "And after he swore to me---"

_"After he swore what?"_

"I…I---"

_"You knew about them didn't you?"_

Brooke sighed. "I caught him and Lindsey messing around…back in March…I didn't say anything to you because I didn't want to hurt you and he promised me---"

_"Wait, you saw Lucas and Lindsey together back in MARCH?! And didn't tell me about them?!"_

"Yes, but Peyton, I---"

_"Lucas never should've done what he did to me. And after he did he should've been a man and told me about everything. He…he…should've told me the truth, but I would think that if he didn't that my BEST friend…the girl I consider my sister…would tell me she knew my husband had been fucking his editor!"_

"Peyton I---"

_"Never …did I think I would lose both my husband and my best friend in one day."_

Brooke tried to blink back her tears. "Peyton, I'm sorry I---"

_"It doesn't matter if you're sorry Brooke. It doesn't matter that Lucas is sorry. Because at the end of the day, whether one's sorry or not, it all still hurts the same."_

_Peyton ended the call and through the phone at the wall, shattering it into a million little pieces. She walked over to the kitchen counter and picked up one of the red velvet cupcakes that Haley had baked her._

_She walked back over to the table and sat down. Peyton picked up a box of candles, took one out and put it in the cupcake. She then grabbed the lighter and lit the candle._

_"Happy Birthday to me." Peyton said fighting back tears. She tried to blow out the candle, but instead placed her hands into her face and started sobbing._

_A couple of minutes later, Peyton heard the pitter patter of little feet. She lifted her head and saw Beckah standing before her. "Baby it's late. You should…be in bed."_

_"Can't sleep."_

_Peyton picked Beckah up and sat her down on her lap. "Neither can I."_

_Beckah looked up into her mother's tear filled eyes. She wiped away a tear from her cheek. "Don't cry Mama. I love you."_

_"And I love you." Peyton said as she cradled the little girl in her arms. She looked down at the cupcake. "You know…I'm h—having trouble blowing out my candle. Do you think you could help me?"_

_Beckah nodded and mother and daughter both leaned in and together blew out the candle._

_The two sat in silence for a long while and eventually Beckah drifted off to sleep. A red-eyed Peyton held the sleeping toddler in her arms, stroked her long wavy blonde hair and stared aimlessly off into space. She became startled at a sound coming from the kitchen door and turned around to see Haley standing before her._

_Haley placed the emergency key that Lucas and Peyton had given her on the counter and pulled up a chair and sat down next to Peyton. She put her arms around the blonde. "Peyton, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

_Peyton began to cry again and rested her head on Haley's shoulder._

_Haley ran her hand through Peyton's messy blonde locks. "You can cry on my shoulder for as long as you need to Peyton. I'm not going anywhere."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Peyton sighed. "It took a long time for me to…rebound after I learned of Lucas's betrayal. He…he hurt me so bad. And even after all these years…it still hurts to think back to that time. And not just because of Lucas, but because Brooke really disappointed me too. I had found out later that she didn't know that anything more went on between them than a kiss she had walked in on, but…it doesn't matter. She should've told me about it."_

_Peyton paused briefly, but then continued. "Still…when everything was all said and done there was no one I blamed or hated more than Lucas and I had so wanted to cut him out of my life forever right then and there, but I knew I couldn't do that because of Keith and Beckah. Lucas and I…we knew that we would have to continue to interact with each other and stay civil for the sake of the kids. And now that all this time has passed it's…not all THAT hard to be around him like it was at first."_

_She took a minute and looked down at her engagement ring. "I am very lucky to have found a great guy like Julian. He…he loves me and I love him…with all my heart. I---"_

_Her words were interrupted by the door of the reunion confessional opening. She turned around and saw Lucas standing before her._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The next morning…

"So you watched the end of Peyton's dvd?" Riley asked.

Moore nodded. "Yeah, and wow…it left me speechless. The shout match that went on in there between her and Lucas was something. And then the threat…"

"You really think there was a threat?" Riley asked. "Because I'm starting to think maybe I was just looking into that too much."

Moore shook his head. "Well I don't."

Riley nodded and glanced down at his watch. "I guess we should get going to the funeral."

Moore nodded. "Let's go."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so lots of stuff to discuss. So we've learned that just as Riley was about to put in Haley's dvd, something about Peyton's caught his eye. Moore seems to think the end of her dvd is very interesting, even more so than Riley does now, though we haven't learned why exactly that is yet. So far we've just heard her tell the story of the Lucas/Lindsey affair. Apparently Peyton was still really upset about the accident and kind of pushing Lucas away and he got upset that she wasn't letting him in and, feeling lonely, turned to Lindsey. A couple months later, on her birthday, Peyton learns the truth straight from the skank's mouth when Lucas's cell had, unknowingly to him, fallen out of his pocket and called Peyton while Lucas and Lindsey were talking at the airport and waiting for his flight. She lets him have it when he gets home and kicks him out. She cried her eyes out all night long, but not alone. Little Beckah, whom Peyton obviously had a very close relationship with, and Haley were there to comfort her. Speaking of Haley…she seemed pretty upset while being interrogated by Moore. Why is that? And she had nothing to say about her reunion dvd and how she really gave both Lucas and Peyton a tongue lashing. Though her little strangle comment later on was a little…eh…she kind of made good points during the actual argument. She was really there for Lucas and Peyton and for them to just shut her out like that over something she didn't intentionally mean to do…she felt was wrong. So what do you think of Nathan and Brooke? They are both hoping that the truth about this killing doesn't come out. Hmm…now why is that? What do you think he wants to show Brooke? And why do you think Brooke totally set Lucas and Peyton up to meet in the reunion reflection room? Was she trying to set them up because she thinks there's something still between them? Well clearly she was wrong, right? I mean after all Moore and Riley were talking about a shout fest that occurred and was captured on the dvd. Words were said and perhaps a threat? Moore seems to think so. What do you think went down in there between Lucas and Peyton? Hmm…I don't know. Anyways…please review with your thoughts/predictions…I love hearing what you guys have to say!**

**Still to come…**

**Keith, Beckah, Karen, Andy, Lily and a couple of other familiar faces attend the funeral. Are they going to be saying goodbye to Lucas or are Karen and Andy attending to support the kids and help them say goodbye to their mother?**

**The last portion of Peyton's dvd**

**The last suspect and victim will be revealed**


	10. When It Rains

**When It Rains**

A/N: A very short chapter, but I wanted to end it at a specific point, so…yeah. Here it is. – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Reunion…_

_Brooke saw a flustered Peyton hurry out of the bathroom and ran down the hall to catch up to her._

_"Peyton, I want to talk to you!"_

_The blonde turned around and wiped away a tear from her eye. "What?!"_

_Brooke stared long and hard into Peyton's eyes. "I saw you…outside. I know what you did."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Brooke where's your head at?"

Nathan's question caused the brunette to snap back to the present. "It's…all over the place right now."

Haley sighed. "I wish I could be at the funeral. For Keith and Beckah."

Nathan took his wife into his arms. "I know. But…we can't go. None of us are wanted there."

"At least they'll have Karen and Andy with them." Brooke said as she plopped down in a chair. She began to grow tear-eyed. "But I still can't believe this is all happening."

Haley tried hard to blink back her own tears. "Neither can I."

Nathan's eyes shifted between both girls. He shook his head and sighed. "Guys I know that this is hard, but we have GOT to stay strong. Because if us three fall apart then---"

"Everything falls apart and the unthinkable might happen." Brooke said interrupting.

"Exactly."

Haley broke away from Nathan's embrace and walked over to the window. She stared outside and watched the rain fall down. "I can't remember the last time it rained here in Tree Hill. It's been like…weeks. Even the forecast for today predicted sunny weather, but… it's raining. It's like the world knows what today is and is in mourning…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mouth slammed his car door shut and began making his way toward the church. He spotted Skills standing by the entrance and ran up to him.

He sighed as he wiped the rain off his jacket. "Never did I think that…when I arrived here for my high school reunion…I would be staying in town to attend the funeral of---"

"I know man." Skills said cutting him off. "Neither did I. And those poor kids…"

Mouth shook his head. "I feel so bad for them." He checked his watch. "Well…we better head in."

As the two made their way inside and headed to find seats in the service area, in another part of the church, Rachel and Bevin whispered quietly to one another in the bathroom.

Bevin began reapplying her eyeliner in the mirror. "This is…so sad."

Rachel nodded. "And what makes it worse is that those kids own---"

"You don't know that." Bevin said cutting her off.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Don't be so naïve Bevin. You and I both know there's a good chance---"

"But there's still a chance that it might not have been. Which is what I'm hoping for. I mean…its bad enough they're going to have to go through life without one parent. How awful would it be if the only one they had left was put away for murdering their dead one?!"

"Awful." Rachel said sighing. "Maybe I'm wrong. And I could very well be…after all…Brooke, Nathan and Haley…anyone of them could've easily done it. It might've been a group effort…who knows. Anyways, we should head back in."

Bevin nodded, quickly put her eyeliner back into her purse and the two girls exited the bathroom. As they sat down in their seats, Jake, who had been wandering around the church lobby, noticed Whitey standing by a window near the entrance. He walked up to him.

"Hey Coach."

Whitey smiled half-heartedly and gave him a hug. "Jake Jagielski. It's been…quite some time since I saw you last. I wish it could've been under better circumstances."

Jake nodded his head slowly. "So do I."

The two stood together for a long while in silence before Jake finally spoke up.

"Have you…talked with Karen or anything? Do you know how Lucas and Peyton's kids are doing?"

Whitey nodded. "I stopped by Karen's yesterday. Their boy…Keith…he looked…distraught; his eyes were so red and puffed up…like he had been spending every waking hour crying. And Rebecca well…I haven't seen that little girl shed a single tear yet."

"I heard she hasn't spoken since it happened."

"Not a word. I suppose it's just…her way of mourning. But I have a feeling that, though it may not be tomorrow or the next day, it's all going to hit her at some point and hit her hard."

Jake nodded. "This is all…so terrible. Those kids…their missing out on growing up with a really great---"

"I know." Whitey said interrupting. He wiped away a tear from his eye. "I know."

Jake patted Whitey on the back and the two made their way in to the seating area, as the service was just about to start. As they entered inside, Jake's eyes scanned the crowd of people before finally resting on Karen, Andy, Keith, Beckah and Lily sitting together in the front. He saw Karen, in sunglasses, holding a noticeably devastated Keith's hand and a stone-faced Beckah, clinging to Andy on his lap.

Jake blinked back his tears and made his way over to his spot a couple of rows back from them, next to Whitey, and sat down.

A few minutes later, the minister began the service.

"Dearly beloved, we…"

His voice trailed off as he noticed Keith let go of Karen's hand and stand up. Karen tried to get her grandson to sit back down, but he wouldn't budge.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to…"

The minister stopped once again as he saw the young sandy blonde-haired 7-year-old inch his way toward the middle of the aisle. Andy tried to grab his arm to stop him, but Keith just shoved him away. The minister still decided to continue on.

"We are gathered here today to remember and honor the memory of a loving---"

"MOM!"

Keith ran up to the open casket and kneeled down in front of it. Tears began pouring out of his blue eyes. "W—we…we were suppose to go to that art museum in New York together this summer. Just you and me. And y—you we're gonna t—to help me with my sketching so I…so I could w—win first place in that dr—drawing…contest and take home the…scooter."

The young boy leaned in closer to Peyton's face and continued talking. "I—I need you Mom. I—I need you! I…I don't want you…to leave me! Why do you have to leave me?! Y—you can't! P—please…don't leave…me!"

Larry, Julian and Andy, who had handed Beckah over to Karen, got up from their seats and made their way up to the casket and tried to pull Keith away, but struggled.

Keith clutched the side of the casket and looked inside. "She doesn't have her ipod! Mom she---she never leaves the house without her ipod! SHE NEEDS IT!"

Larry and Andy were finally able to rip the boy from the casket and Keith kicked and yelled as the three of them headed for the exit.

"I WANT MY MOM! I NEED MY MOM!"

Tears poured down Karen's cheeks and she cradled Beckah tightly in her arms. The little girl lifted her head up over her grandmother's shoulder and locked eyes with Riley, who was sitting with Moore a couple of rows behind.

Riley stared into the blank and emotionless face of Beckah for a long while before finally ripping his eyes away, finding it much too painful to look at her.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore glanced over at Riley, who sat in the passenger's seat beside him gazing aimlessly out the window into the rainy streets of Tree Hill.

"That was…heart wrenching."

Riley slowly nodded his head in agreement.

There was a long period of silence before Riley finally broke it. "She looked at me."

"Who?"

"Peyton's daughter Rebecca. After her grandfathers took her brother out of the room…she had lifted her head from off of her grandmother's shoulder and we locked eyes. All those around her were…crying their eyes out, but not Rebecca. Her…her face was blank and…apathetic like. But in her eyes I saw it."

"Saw what?" Moore asked curiously.

"The sadness."

Riley sighed, sat up in his seat and looked over at Moore. "We…we have got to solve this case. Keith and Rebecca…they deserve to know who it was that took their mother away from them forever."

Moore nodded. "And they will know. Brooke, Nathan, Haley…Lucas…one of them pulled the trigger and I won't rest until I find out which one of those sons of bitches did it."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so this chapter…though short…was really hard to write. It was very sad. My own writing even choked ME up a bit. But anyways…the victim has been revealed. It's Peyton. I killed off one of my favorite character. Crazy, right? But I have my reasons. So…Peyton's dead. Poor Keith…he just broke down at the funeral. And Beckah well…she's not showing much overt emotion right now, but it's like Whitey said…it's probably only a matter of time. Sure she had a kind of rocky relationship with her mother the past couple months, but I'm sure whether she was willing to admit it or not she loved Peyton. Now…since we know that Peyton's dead, we also now know that Lucas is the last suspect. Moore and Riley planned to interrogate the four directly after the funeral. What do you think will happen? Will someone crack? Will a confession be made? Hmmm…I don't know! Please review with your thoughts/predictions. I greatly appreciate them! – Jasmine**

**Still to come…**

**The last portion of Peyton's dvd**

**Lucas's interrogation**

**Group interrogation**


	11. I Refuse

**I Refuse**

A/N: Okay so I want to clear up a couple of things. Julian…was at the funeral. Remember, he ran up to help Larry and Andy pull Keith away from Peyton's casket. And second…obviously the murder suspects aren't going to be at the funeral…including Lucas. Pretty sure Larry and Julian made sure of that…even though Luke is Keith and Beckah's father. Anyways…I think that's it. I hope you like this next chapter! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

A red-eyed Julian stared long and hard at a photo of Peyton in his hands. "H—how am I supposed to live without her?"

Larry took a seat down on the couch next to Julian. "When I…figure it out I'll let you know." He then shook his head and buried his face into his hands.

Julian gave up trying to blink back the tears welling up in his eyes and let them fall. "I—I can still remember the first time I saw Peyton like it was yesterday. And I knew from the moment that I first laid my eyes on her that she was the one for me…"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_November 2015 – Tree Hill_

_"Mommy, where's Daddy?"_

_Peyton shook her head. "I have no idea Beckah." She checked the time on her cell. "And he KNEW I had to drop you guys off and run right back to __Charlotte__. Ugh…I'm so going to be late for my meeting!"_

_Keith pointed across the street. "Maya's here!"_

_The pretty young auburn haired nanny locked her car door and walked over to the trio._

_Peyton sighed in relief. "Thank God you're here Maya! I don't know where the heck Lucas is…he's late meeting me and he's not answering his phone. We've been waiting outside for like 15 minutes now because I didn't realize I had left the key at my house until I was about a good 40 minutes into the drive and--"_

_"I'm actually the late one." Maya said cutting her off. "Lucas called me two hours ago and asked if I would come in early today and meet you because he had some sort of conference that he had forgotten about. I had trouble getting my car to start so that's why I'm just now getting here I'm sorry."_

_Peyton shook her head. "No it's fine."_

_She bent down and engulfed Keith and Beckah in a huge bear hug. "You guys have fun with your dad this weekend, ok? I'll be back Sunday to come and pick you two up."_

_Peyton watched as Maya took Keith and Beckah by the hand and led them into the house. She began making her way back to her car and not looking to see where she was going, as she was rummaging through her purse for her car keys, Peyton accidentally tripped on the sidewalk in front of the house and fell hard._

_She slowly lifted her scrapped up right arm and stared at it._

_"Oww…it looks likes you had a nasty fall. Need a hand?"_

_Peyton looked up and locked eyes with the handsome stranger before her. Julian reached out his hand and she took it and he helped her up._

_"Thanks."_

_Julian fixed his lips to say something when he was interrupted by Maya coming from out of the house and running up to Peyton._

_"Hey, I'm glad you didn't leave yet. Beckah said you had her…playing cards?"_

_Peyton pondered briefly and then began looking through her purse. She pulled out a pack of Disney princess cards and handed them over to the nanny._

_Maya smiled. 'Thanks Peyton, I'll see ya later." She then hurried off back inside._

_"So you're Peyton Sawyer?"_

_The blonde stared curiously. "Yeah…who are you and how did you---"_

_"My name's Julian. Julian Baker. I'm a film producer who is desperately trying to get your…uh…well Lucas…to option An Unkindness of Ravens to me. That's why I'm here I was hoping he'd be home so I could talk to him about it one last time but it doesn't look like he is."_

_"He's not." Peyton said confirming. "So…a big hot shot producer like yourself wants to turn a little old book like An Unkindness of Ravens into a movie?"_

_"Well for starters I'm no hot shot producer. More like a failed guitarist turned fledging indie film producer. And second...who wouldn't want to turn An Unkindness of Ravens into a movie? It's a great story."_

_Peyton nodded slowly. "That it is."_

_Julian shook his head and grinned "I can't believe that THE Peyton Sawyer is standing before me. I found myself drawn and empathizing more with your character than anyone elses."_

_She sighed. "Well there's much more to me than the 'Peyton' in the novel. Trust me."_

_Peyton began making her way across the street to her car when Julian shouted out to her. "Will you go out with me?!"_

_The blonde stopped and turned around. "Did you really just---"_

_"Ask you out?" Julian interrupted. "Yes. I did."_

_"You're not serious are you?"_

_Julian walked up closer to her and gazed into her green eyes. "I'm…very serious actually. I know you think it's probably weird that this guy you don't know just asked you out and…I'm not usually this forward but…it's not everyday that a guy comes across the beautiful, multifaceted girl that he's read so much about. And I know…you've said that there's more to you than the Peyton described in the book. Well, I'd really like the chance to get to know what that is. If you'd be willing to let me."_

_"I…I…"_

_Peyton let her voice trail off as she caught glance of Julian's watch and saw the time. "I am going to be late for my label meeting if I don't hop in my car like right now and get back to __Charlotte__!"_

_She crossed the street to her car and Julian followed._

_"You live in __Charlotte__?"_

_She stopped fumbling with her keys and looked at him. "Yeah…"_

_"I just rented a house in __Charlotte__. It's where I'm shooting my newest film…a 1940's love story. It was supposed to be shot in __Raleigh__, but at the last minute...for no apparent reason I decided to change the location._

_Peyton eyed him curiously. "What a coincidence."_

_Julian nodded and thought for a minute before speaking again. "So…will you go out with me now?"_

_Peyton shook her head. "No. I mean, you look like a nice guy and everything, it's just …you really don't want me."_

_"And why is that?"_

_"Because I am…so damaged beyond repair and there's no fixing me."_

_Julian took in a deep breath and gazed into her eyes. "Oh, I don't believe that's true. Look, I've talked with Lucas. I know what happened between the two of you and I know that he really hurt you. But just because one guy hurt you…it doesn't mean that all will. And I know…when someone hurts you as bad as he did that…it's hard to put your heart back out there because you're afraid it might happen again. I know that because…it was hard for me."_

_Peyton stared deeply into his eyes, but still remained silent._

_Julian took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "But you can't keep your heart guarded forever. Because if you do, you might miss out on getting to know a really great guy that will make you happy. And I'm not trying to say that…he's me. But you'll never know if you aren't willing to give me an opportunity and see now will you?"_

_He paused for a moment before continuing. _

_"Come on…all I'm asking is for a chance. Just one date. How about it?" _

_Peyton sighed as she locked eyes with the handsome, charming producer and thought long and hard about everything he had said. "Well I…I…"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_April 2016 – __Charlotte_

_Julian, on his cell, paced about the bedroom. "Well if you can't cut through that red tape I'll find someone who can."_

_Peyton, who had been standing by the doorway listening, walked in._

_"Well this might come as a surprise to you but you're not the only line producer in town."_

_"Be nice." Peyton whispered quietly as she pushed him down onto the bed and straddled him._

_"Look Josh, I know you're trying just…do me a favor and try a little harder. It's all going to get done."_

_Julian ended the call, threw his phone down and smirked. "I think it's a bad idea that I moved in with you."_

_Peyton smiled. "Why?"_

_"Because if I get any nicer my film's not going to get to Sundance."_

_"Oh…but you'll get me. And I am way sexier than Sundance."_

_Peyton leaned in to Julian and the two engaged in a short, but heated make-out session. They both pulled away at the same time and stared deeply into each others eyes._

_Julian broke the silence. "I love you."_

_"I love you too." Peyton said smiling. _

_The two started kissing again, but were interrupted by giggles coming from the door. Peyton and Julian looked up and saw Beckah._

_"You two are always kissing!" the little girl said laughing._

_Julian got up from the bed, walked up to Beckah and began tickling her. "Is that so?" He then lifted the giggling little girl up onto his shoulders and began spinning around._

_"Julian you're making me dizzy!"_

_He stopped and looked up at Beckah. "But I thought you like getting dizzy?"_

_"I do! So keep going!"_

_Julian glanced over at Peyton. The two shook their heads and chuckled, and Julian continued spinning Beckah around._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_October 2016 – __Hawaii_

_"This is all so beautiful." Peyton said looking around the private beach cabaña that Julian had rented out for a romantic dinner for two._

_Julian took her by the hand and guided her to their table, where two dinner entrees awaited them. He helped her into her chair and then sat down across from her. He grabbed the wine from the table and filled their glasses. The two then dug into their food._

_After they were done, Julian got up to clear the plates. "I'll be right back."_

_Peyton nodded and smiled and Julian briefly exited the hut. _

_Peyton sipped on her wine while she waited and a few minutes later Julian returned. _

_"I have a surprise for you."_

_He whipped out a blindfold, covered Peyton's eyes, and picked her up._

_"Where are we going?" Peyton asked curiously._

_"You'll see."_

_Julian carried Peyton out of the cabana and out onto the beach. He carefully laid her down on the sand and slowly untied her blindfold._

_Peyton opened up her eyes and looked around in awe. The couple was surrounded by candles and rose petals, arranged in a large heart-shape. _

_"Julian this is beautiful!"_

_She leaned in and kissed him. "I love you."_

_"I love you Peyton. And that's why…"_

_He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. "I want you to marry me."_

_Julian opened it up and removed the pink diamond ring. _

_Peyton gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God!"_

_"I am in love with you Peyton. I have been for a…really long time now. You have brought me so much joy and happiness and I honestly can't imagine my life without you in it. I want to be with you forever and always."_

_Peyton opened up her mouth in astonishment and stared down at the ring. She then refocused her attention back to Julian. "You now I'm a package deal."_

_"And you know that I love Keith and Beckah as if they were my own. And I talked to them last week and asked them if it would be okay if I asked you to marry me and they gave me their blessing."_

_Peyton smiled softly. "They did?"_

_He nodded. "Yes. So…what do you say? Will you marry me?"_

_Peyton redirected her eyes to the ring and stared long and hard at it. She took in a deep breath and then looked back up at Julian. She smiled and nodded. "Yes I'll marry you."_

_Julian grinned as he placed the box on the sand, took Peyton left hand and slipped the diamond onto her ring finger. He then sat up, picked Peyton up and swung her around._

_"Yes! We're getting married!" He shouted out excitedly and kissed her. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Julian got up from the couch and walked over to the window. "I can't believe she's gone. And I'll bet that it was that son of a bitch Lucas Scott who took her way from me forever."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Lucas stared aimlessly at the wall in front of him as he waited for Moore and Riley to enter into the interrogation room. After a while, he began to let his mind drift…

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_November 2015 – Tree Hill_

_Julian watched as Peyton drove off. He stood for a few minutes in silence before finally shaking his in disbelief. He then crossed the street and headed back to his own car. He jumped up, punched a fist into the air and shouted. "I have a date with Peyton Sawyer!"_

_"You WHAT?!"_

_Julian turned around and came face to face with Lucas._

_They stared at each other for a long while before Lucas asked once again. "You what?"_

_"I'm…going out on a date with Peyton."_

_Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Peyton? As in my Peyton?"_

_"She's not yours." Julian said somewhat agitatedly. "Not anymore."_

_Lucas just shook his head in shock. "I—I can't believe she'd…."_

_This time, Julian raised an eyebrow. "You can't believe what? That she'd eventually want to start dating again? Did you really expect her to live the rest of her life as a hermit like you?"_

_Lucas ignored Julian's words and just continued to shake his head in disbelief. _

_Julian sighed. "So I guess there's a better chance of Hell freezing over than there is of you letting me option your book now, huh?"_

_"You got that right."_

_Julian nodded and after the two stared each other down for a bit longer, Julian eventually pulled his keys out of his pocket, opened up his car door, hopped inside and drove away._

_Lucas's jaw dropped and he stood standing on the sidewalk for a long while in complete and utter shock._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_April 2016 – __Charlotte_

_Lucas sighed as he turned off the windshield wipers in his car. When he hit a red light, he reached his hand in the backseat and began looking around for a cd to pop into the player. _

_He noticed Keith's Nintendo DSi lying on the floor and picked it up._

_"He's going to want this." Lucas said to himself as he placed the game console in the empty passenger's seat. "I haven't even reached the highway yet. Might as well go back to Peyton's and drop it off to him."_

_Lucas made a u-turn and headed back to his ex-wife's._

_A few minutes later he pulled onto Peyton's block and parked his car across the street from her house. He made his way toward the front door and just as he was about to knock he heard laughter coming from inside. _

_Lucas poked his head into the window and saw Peyton, Julian, Keith and Beckah running around together in the living room. _

_Tears began rolling down his cheeks as he watched his smiling little girl jump into Julian's arms and hug him tightly._

_A devastated Lucas stepped away from the window. "They all look…so h—happy together."_

_He wiped the tears from his face and hurried back to his car._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_October 2016 – Tree Hill_

_"Is Mommy almost here?"_

_"She called and said she'd be here in five minutes."_

_Beckah nodded and her and Keith stood by the window in their Dad's living room, anxiously awaiting their mother's arrival. A few minutes later, they saw Peyton's car pull into the driveway._

_"Mom and Julian are here!" Keith yelled out. He began running to the front door._

_"I hope she said yes!" Beckah said as she followed her brother._

_Lucas scratched his head and headed toward his front door. "Said yes to what?"_

_Keith swung the door open and the two kids immediately ran up to Peyton, who bent down and engulfed her children in a big huge bear hug._

_"I missed you guys so much."_

_"We missed you too." Beckah said. She broke away from the embrace, looked down at Peyton's left hand and smiled. "You said yes?! So you and Julian are going to get married?!"_

_Peyton nodded. "Yes."_

_Lucas's jaw dropped at Peyton's revelation. He locked eyes with his ex and then stared long and hard at the engagement ring on her finger._

_Peyton stood up. "Alright, why don't you two head to the car. I'll get your bags."_

_"Okay." Keith said and he and Beckah ran outside and hopped into the backseat of the SUV. _

_"Julian…p—proposed to you…while you were in __Hawaii__?"_

_Peyton nodded. "Yes."_

_"And y—you really said yes?"_

_Peyton nodded once again._

_Lucas stood silently in shock and his gaze once again returned to her ring. Peyton's words broke his concentration._

_"I…I really need to get going. Are their bags in the playroom?"_

_Lucas slowly nodded his head._

_Peyton nodded, brushed passed Lucas and headed toward the playroom. She retrieved the kids' bags and made her way back to the front door._

_She sighed. "So I…guess I'll be seeing ya."_

_She opened up the front door and exited the house. She made her way to the car, put Keith and Beckah's bags in the trunk and made her way to the passenger's side and climbed in. Julian started up the car and the four were off._

_Lucas shook his head and slowly fell to the floor. Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I—I can't believe she's marrying him."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_June 2017 – Tree Hill_

_"What did you two want to talk to me about?"_

_Peyton and Julian looked at each other and then directed their attention to Lucas._

_Julian took in a deep breath and began speaking. "I…got a job executive producing this new drama series for CBS."_

_"And this affects me how?"_

_"Well the show will be filming in __Melbourne__."_

_Lucas's eyes grew large. "__Melbourne__? As in…__Melbourne__, __Australia__?!"_

_Peyton nodded her head slowly. "Yes. Which means we're going to be…moving there. Me, Julian and the kids"_

_Lucas shook his head. "No, no, no you can't do that. We have joint custody."_

_"No, we have joint LEGAL custody. I have sole PHYSICAL custody. Which means I can move with them."_

_Lucas shot Julian a dirty look, grabbed Peyton by the arm and pulled her to the side. "I'll take you to court and contest this."_

_"You can." Peyton said agreeing. "But you won't win. Keith…he wants to live with me and no court is going to split him and Beckah up. Besides the kids have ALWAYS lived with me."_

_Lucas shook his head. "I can't believe you're trying to keep me from MY kids! It's like your trying to punish me. Do you honestly hate me that much?!"_

_"I would never make such a decision regarding OUR kids to SPITE you Lucas! Julian and I…we've thought long and hard about it…listed the pros and cons and at the end of the day I think the move will be good for them…education wise and in other ways."_

_Lucas continued to shake his head in disgust. He scoffed sarcastically. "Fine Peyton. Whatever. You and Julian move…he can play daddy to MY kids and the four of you can live happily ever after down under. I'll just step aside! That's what you want right?!"_

_"What I wanted was happily ever after with you! But YOU blew it! Not me…YOU! So don't you DARE try to turn me into the bad guy and make me feel guilty for finding happiness again with someone else! So if you're sad about the way things are you're just going to have to get a straw and suck it up, you know why? Because you've dug your own grave Lucas Scott. Now lie in it!"_

_Peyton stormed over to Julian, the two headed off to their car together, hopped in and left._

_Lucas walked up to his house and plopped down on his front steps. He put his face into his hands and began sobbing softly. He then lifted his head up and stared aimlessly off into space. _

_"I REFUSE to stand by and let all of this happen. I'm not going to do it."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so…not exactly what I described this chapter to be in the last one, but…yeah. Anyways…this instead was all flashbacks, but very important flashbacks. You got to see just how serious Peyton and Julian were and it appears as though they were really in love. So…what do you think Lucas meant by: "I REFUSE to stand by and let all of this happen. I'm not going to do it." Do you think that Lucas was simply pissed that he wasn't going to see his kids as much as he would like if Peyton were to move and would do anything in his power to prevent that from happening? Maybe even kill if getting riled up enough? Or do you think that's only part of it and that maybe he didn't just miss the kids, but her too and that when he said he wasn't going to stand by and let all of this happen he meant let Julian live happily ever after with the love of HIS life? Is there any evidence to suggest that Lucas still wanted Peyton? Even if he did, do you think she wanted him? Do you think he killed her because he couldn't handle the fact that she didn't? Or maybe he didn't do it at all and it was one of the others…who knows. Please review with your thoughts/predictions!**

**Next time (for real)…**

**The Lucas/Peyton confessional shout fest**

**"I saw you with my own eyes, okay? So just admit it."**


	12. If I Can't Have You

**"If I Can't Have You…"**

A/N: So here's the next chapter. For those of you who missed Nathan, Haley and Brooke…well they're back in this one. Along with Lucas. This is a pretty intense and…somewhat interesting chapter that I hope you all will like! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Lucas, who had been trying his hardest to blink back his tears, gave up trying and let them fall. Just then, Moore and Riley entered into the interrogation with Nathan, Haley, and Brooke.

Riley lined the trio up against the wall and he and Moore made their way over to the table.

Moore began speaking. "I went to your ex-wife's funeral today. Your son he…was so devastated. Keith he…ran up to his mother's casket and cried hysterically. He shouted out 'I want my mom' and 'why did you have to leave me.'"

Moore stopped talking, waiting to get a verbal response from Lucas, but the blonde said nothing. His tear stricken face just continued to stare off into space.

Moore continued on. "Peyton she…she didn't choose to leave her son. Someone…someone took her from him. And his little sister. Forever. But…considering that you stood beside her lifeless body and that your finger prints were one of four all over the gun that killed her…I'm sure you already knew that."

The detective grabbed a chair, dragged it over to where Lucas was sitting and sat down. He slammed his fist onto the table. "Did you do it?! Did you KILL your children's mother?!"

A hysterical Lucas began stuttering. "I…I…"

Moore shouted out to Riley. "Play the tape!"

Riley nodded. He walked over to the television, turned it on, hit the power button on the DVD player and hit play…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Peyton looked down at her engagement ring. "I am very lucky to have found a great guy like Julian. He…he loves me and I love him…with all my heart. I---"_

_Her words were interrupted by the door of the reunion confessional opening. She turned around and saw Lucas standing before her._

_"Lucas what are you doing in here?!"_

_"I---I had wanted to finish my confessional. Brooke had told me that the room was free. I had…no idea that you would be in---"_

_"She is something else!" Peyton said cutting him off._

_"I'm sure Brooke just thought it was empty. She probably didn't know that you were in here and--"_

_"Yes she did!" Peyton said getting up. She shook her head in agitation. "I specifically told her I was coming in here! I can't believe her! She sure as hell knew I didn't want to see you!"_

_Lucas threw up his hands. "Look, it's NOT that big of deal, ok?! I'll leave!"_

_"Good!"_

_He started to head for the door, but stopped and turned around. "No, I'm not going to walk away from you. Because your not suppose to just walk away from the one you love!"_

_Peyton shook her head. "Love?! How dare you say something like that to me!?"_

_"Why not, it's the truth?!" Lucas yelled out. "I love you Peyton! I…am in love with you! And I know that you're in love with me too!"_

_Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?!"_

_Lucas nodded and walked up closer to her. "Yes. Because if you weren't, you NEVER would've---"_

_"I'm with Julian!" Peyton said interrupting. "He asked me to marry him and I said yes! I said YES! I gave him my word and---"_

_"Your WORD?!" Lucas asked, chuckling angrily. "Your word's pretty much SHOT TO HELL now, don't you think?!"_

_Peyton pondered his words for a long while before responding. "Not necessarily…"_

_Lucas shook his head. "You might love Julian, but not like you love me. I know you don't."_

_"You don't know ANYTHING!"_

_Lucas took his arms and placed them on Peyton's shoulders. He stared deeply into her eyes. "I know you can't look me in the eyes and tell me that you're not still IN love with me."_

_Peyton stared long and hard in his eyes before shouting out. "I DON'T WANT YOU! I've moved on! And it's about time that you did the same!"_

_She wiggled in an attempt to escape Lucas's grasp, but he held onto to her firmly._

_"Lucas, let me go!"_

_He ignored her words. "YOU REALLY DON'T GET IT DO YOU PEYTON?!"_

_"I don't get what?!"_

_Lucas angrily yelled out. "IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU…"_

_He let his voice trail off and whispered something into her ear. _

_A shocked and frazzled Peyton's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Lucas let go of his grip on his ex, headed for the door and exited._

_Peyton cringed as she heard the door slam behind him. She began hyperventilating and took a seat in the chair in front of the camera. After a minute or two she realized it was still on and Peyton immediately hopped up and shut it off and the screen went fuzzy._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Riley hit the stop button and turned the television off.

Moore directed his attention back onto Lucas. "What did you whisper to her Lucas? If I can't have you then what?"

Lucas remained silent. He just sniffed and wiped away the tears from his cheeks.

Moore got up from his seat and began pacing around the room. "Peyton she…she had a fiancé. Julian. He loved her and the two of them were happy together. He loved Keith and Rebecca and your kids…they loved him too, right? I bet that REALLY bothered you, huh?"

Lucas slowly nodded his head.

"I bet as much as that bothered you…it probably hurt even more knowing that Peyton was in love with Julian because you were still so in live with her, am I right?"

Lucas said nothing.

Moore continued on. "But Peyton didn't want YOU. She didn't love YOU. Not anymore anyways. And you couldn't handle that, could you?"

Moore walked up next to Lucas and glared into his eyes. "In that confessional room Peyton told you once and for all that she didn't want you. And you flipped out and threatened her, didn't you?!"

Tears poured down Lucas's face. "I…"

"IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU THEN NO WILL! THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID RIGHT?!"

"I…I---"

"IT'S EITHER YES OR NO!"

Nathan shook his head and began whispering to himself. "Come on Lucas. Don't…don't do this."

"ANSWER THE QUESTION LUCAS!"

Lucas continued to struggle. "I…I---"

"It was me! I did it!"

Moore, Riley, Lucas, Haley and Brooke all turned their heads and looked over at Nathan.

Once he saw that all attention was on him, the younger Scott brother began speaking. "Peyton she...she ruined my life. Had it not been for her, I would still have my leg and I'd be playing in the NBA right now. But I'm not. I—I wanted Peyton to pay for what she did to me. So when I got the chance I took the gun, stared the bitch down and shot her in the stomach. It was me. I did it."

Moore shook his head. "I'm not interested in hearing your false confession Nathan Scott!"

"It's not!"

"It is when you decide to make it after you see your brother struggling! You and I both know you didn't kill Peyton!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you see me second?!"

Moore walked up to Nathan. "Because I wanted to talk to you four in order from least likely to have committed this crime to most and next to Brooke Davis…you were the least likely to have done this."

"What makes you think that?"

Moore sighed. "Because as pissed as you might've been about your leg you never would have waited all these years to take vengeance on Peyton. If you wanted her dead you would've killed her a long time ago."

Moore turned his attention to Brooke. "Peyton she…had a little bit of a problem with you. But you were the only one who didn't have a problem with her. I wanted to talk with you first because I felt…you might be the most honest. And considering the fact that at one point she was your best friend and that because you were still hoping she'd want you to be that to her again…I thought that you may crack and tell me the truth. But you didn't. Still…I don't think you did this."

The detective then looked over at Haley. "A mentor of mine always told me that it's the seemingly sweet, quiet ones you have to watch out for. When I heard about all of your verbal spats with Peyton at the reunion…I knew there was a good chance you might've taken it too far. That was until…"

Moore let his voice trail off and he made his way back over to Lucas. "I saw the end Peyton's reunion DVD. Then I knew there was no denying the obvious."

He paused momentarily, but then continued. "I always thought you were the most likely to have killed her and that's why I wanted to wait to interrogate you last. Why? So you'd grow anxious. So your thoughts and guilt could consume you and lead you to just breakdown and fall apart."

Moore stared long and hard into Lucas devastated eyes. "Looks like I succeeded."

The detective took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before speaking again.

"Why is that I think you did it? Well there are a number of different reasons. You see for starters…the killing…it took place at YOUR house! Your kids were at your mother's and the nanny had gone out for the night so aside from the others, who else was there?! NO ONE! The gun used? Well it turns out its YOURS! Your prints? All over the murder weapon! You?! Right next to her dead body...along with those other four knuckle heads over there! Motive!? You couldn't take the fact that Peyton didn't want you so you killed her! That way IF YOU CAN'T HAVE HER NO ONE WILL! NOT YOU…NOT JULIAN AND MOST IMPORTANTLY---"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Nathan shouted out. "I CONFESSED! LOCK ME UP!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT, YOU KNOW WHY?! BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T DO IT!"

"YES I---"

"No you didn't."

Moore, Riley, Nathan, Haley and Brooke all turned their attention onto Lucas.

Nathan shook his head. "Luke don't---"

"You have…Jamie Nathan." Lucas said in between sniffles. "And so do you Haley. He…he needs you and---"

"But what about Keith and Beckah?!"

Lucas ignored his brother and kept on talking. "And Brooke---y—you still have your whole life…ahead o—of y—you."

Lucas paused momentarily before he continued. "I don't know what i—it was you all exactly were trying…t—to do, but whatever it…is y—you can't do it. It's…n—not fair of you…t—to give up your lives…for s—something you…didn't do."

Brooke grew teary-eyed. "But Lucas---"

"I loved Peyton." Lucas said to Moore, interrupting Brooke. He let the tears stream down his face. "But I---I…k—killed her. Because…s—she didn't l—love me. And if I—I couldn't h—have her…then no one w—would. Not Julian. Not my kids. N—no one."

Riley sighed heavily. He walked up to Haley and glared her in the eyes. "Is that true?"

An overtly emotional Haley gazed over at Lucas. The two stared at each other for a long time before she finally redirected her attention back onto Riley. She slowly nodded her head. "Y—yes."

Moore slowly shook his head. He looked over at Riley. "Drop the murder charges on those three and book them for concealment."

Moore's angry and cold eyes stared into Lucas's sad ones. "I'll take Scott." He then pulled Lucas out of the chair, handcuffed him and led him out of the interrogation room.

Riley sighed. He paged for help and once his partner Jones arrived the two officers proceeded to take Nathan, Haley and Brooke out of the room to book them.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Three days later…

_Riley stood in the center of an empty, red-walled bedroom and looked around. He began hearing a faint, persistent cry and suddenly Beckah appeared before him._

_The little girl stood staring at Riley but said nothing. _

_He bent down to her eyelevel. "Beckah---"_

_"Help me."_

_Riley eyed the little girl curiously and Beckah repeated her words. "Help me."_

_"How? What do you need me to do?"_

_Beckah walked up closer to him and whispered into his ear. "I need you to be the voice."_

_Riley sighed. "I—I don't know what that means."_

_"I need you to be my voice."_

_Beckah began walking away, but then stopped, turned around, and looked back at Riley. "Save me from this darkness."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Honey, are you okay?"

Riley opened up his eyes and popped up in his bed. He began breathing heavily and looked over at his wife, Kate. "No."

"You had the dream again, didn't you?"

Riley nodded. "Yeah."

Kate turned her bedside lamp on and sat up. "This is the third night in the row now. Why do you think you keep having it?"

"Because I haven't helped Beckah. I haven't been…the voice and I…haven't been able to save her from the darkness."

Kate shook her head. "What do you think she meant by all of that?"

Riley shrugged. "I don't know. Moore he...handed the Sawyer case over to the ADA, but…"

"But?"

"I don't think Moore should've done it."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm not entirely sure Lucas Scott killed her."

Kate pondered momentarily before responding. "But…wasn't his prints all over the gun?"

"Yes, but so were three others."

"So you think it was one of them?"

Riley shook his head. "No, I don't. Though I am curious to know why all five of those former friends were together at Lucas's house and why it is they don't seem to hate each other now. I don't get it."

Kate nodded. "I don't either. But back to Lucas. Now why are doubting his guilt? I mean, didn't he confess?"

"Yes."

"Then what makes you think that---"

"Because he loved her." Riley said cutting his wife off. "And I don't think it was in this psychotic 'I want you all for myself and no one else can have you' way. I mean, the DVD footage between him and Peyton engaged in this intense, heated discussion, but I just think he was trying to get his point across to her is all. When I saw him in person during the interrogation…I gazed into his eyes and saw how absolutely devastated he looked. Even if she didn't love him back, I just can't picture him killing her…the mother of his children."

"But he confessed. Why would he do that if he didn't kill her?"

Riley shook his head. "I have no idea. Maybe it's because he did do it, but didn't mean to. And if it was an accident that needs to be made known because…as hard as it's going to be for those kids to have to live with the fact that their father killed their mother…it'll be a whole lot easier to handle that truth if they knew it was an accidental homicide, as opposed to an intentional murder. But who knows really. I'm starting to think that a huge piece to this puzzle is missing and it could very well be the piece that holds all the answers."

Kate nodded. "So are you going to try and figure out if there's more to this case than what first meets the eye?"

Riley sighed. "I really want to, but I can't. The investigation is closed. If I started asking questions and looking around for evidence behind Moore's back and get caught my shot at making detective goes down the toilet. Hell, I'd be lucky not to get fired!"

"I see." Kate said as she readjusted her pillow. "I guess you're just going to have to weigh out what's more important to you. Is it the station or is it making sure a man won't go away to prison for the rest of his life for a crime your not 100% sure he might have done? I mean, I don't think Beckah's causing you sleepless nights for no reason."

Kate reached her hand out and turned off her bedside lamp. She snuggled up underneath the covers and soon fell asleep.

Riley sat up and pondered his wife's words. After a long while he turned to her and nudged her gently.

Kate stirred and slowly awakened. "What is it?"

"You're right. Beckah's not causing me sleepless nights for no reason. I…I'm going to keep digging into this case. No matter the consequence."

Kate caressed her husband's cheek, lifted her head up and kissed him. "I was hoping you'd say that."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! Lucas has confessed to killing Peyton. He said he killed her because he loved her and she didn't love him. Since he couldn't have her, he made sure no one else would. So what do you think about that? Do you think his confession is genuine? I mean, it was obvious that Nathan was trying to take the blame and then when Haley was asked if Lucas's confession was true she nodded yes. Also note that Brooke never objected to the contrary. And don't forget…we have now learned that the murder occurred at Lucas's house. The gun…was his. The only people there? Lucas, Peyton, Nathan, Haley and Brooke. Why? Who the heck knows? Still…Riley isn't 100% convinced that Lucas is guilty. He thinks it was either an accident or that he didn't do it at all. But if he didn't, then why would he confess? And what do you think of Riley's weird recurring dreams of Beckah? Why are the two of them in an empty bedroom with red walls? What is "Help me" "I need you to be the voice" and "Save me from this darkness" all about? Anyways…is Lucas guilty? "If I can't have you _______?" Moore seems to think that he whispered to Peyton "then no one will" and Lucas admitted to it, but is that truly what he said? And during the confrontation Lucas was sure that Peyton was still in love with him. Did she give him any reason to suggest that? Something that isn't yet known perhaps? Why is it that Brooke set the two of them up in the confessional room anyway? Will Riley be able to crack this case? Hmm…I don't know…keep on reading to find out! And please review with your thoughts/predictions. I love hearing what you guys have to say! – Jasmine**

**Coming Up… **

**"The boy saw a comet and suddenly felt as though his life had meaning."**

**Riley has a little talk with Brooke in which she indirectly reveals some shocking information**

**The never-ending list of the reasons for why I love you**


	13. I Know Who Killed Me

**I Know Who Killed Me**

A/N: Here's another update. I am so determined to finish this story! Lol. Anyways...I saw that someone was confused about the cops taking Nathan, Brooke and Haley in to be booked. It wasn't for murder. Those charges were dropped against them. Moore was being a hard ass though…probably pissed because those three were lying and covering for Lucas…so he booked them for concealment. A slap on the wrist compared to what they were faced with before. Okay…so no Nathan or Haley, but it's a necessary chapter that I hope you all will still like. They'll be back soon, I promise. – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Riley looked around and saw that he was back in the empty red bedroom. He paced about and seemingly out of thin air Peyton appeared._

_She walked up to him. "Help her."_

_"You mean help Beckah?"_

_Peyton nodded. "She needs you to be her voice. Save her from the darkness." _

_The two stood staring at each other for a long time before Peyton finally turned around and began walking away. _

_Riley called out to her. "Hey!"_

_Peyton stopped._

_Riley took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "Do you…" He let his voice trail off._

_Peyton turned her head around. The solemn blonde sighed and slowly nodded. "Yes. I know who killed me."_

_"Who?"_

_She remained silent._

_Riley sighed. "You can't say. But there has to be something you can tell me."_

_The sadness left her face and she smiled softly. "I love Beckah. And I will ALWAYS love Beckah..."_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Riley awakened and immediately popped up in his bed. He checked the time on his alarm clock and saw that it was only 4:00 am. He sighed, laid his head back on his pillow, shut his eyes and soon drifted back off to sleep…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Once again Riley found himself alone in the red room with Beckah. The little girl motioned for him to come closer to her._

_He walked up to Beckah and bent down to her eyelevel. _

_"Help me."_

_Riley nodded. "I'm going to help you Beckah. But in order for me to do that I need you to help me help you."_

_She gazed long and hard into Riley's eyes before stepping back. Then, out of nowhere, a pencil and sketchpad appeared in the little girl's hands._

_Beckah sat down on the floor and began diligently drawing. _

_In no time at all she was done. She sat back up and gave Riley her sketch._

_Riley tilted his head to the side and examined the drawing. "It's a comet."_

_Beckah nodded._

_"It's…very lovely. You're an extremely talented little artist. But I don't get---"_

_"The boy saw a comet and suddenly felt as though his life had meaning."_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Riley's eyes popped open at the sound of his alarm. He quickly sat up and turned it off, as he did not want to awaken his wife, and slowly got out of bed.

He headed downstairs and into his home office. He then sat down at his desk and turned on his lap top.

Riley went to Google and typed the phrase 'The boy saw a comet and suddenly felt as though his life had meaning' in the search box.

Over a million hits came up and the first one caught Riley's eye immediately: a Google book preview.

"_The Comet_ by Lucas Scott."

He clicked the link and within a few seconds an excerpt of the novel appeared before him. He began to read aloud. "Chapter One: The Boy Saw a Comet."

Riley sighed. "So Beckah wants me to read her father's book. But why?"

He checked the time on the computer. "Barnes &Noble's is probably open now. Better head over there and pick up a copy of this book."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Later that evening, at an outside café…_

Riley placed Lucas's novel down in front of him, picked up his coffee and took one last sip. He left his empty cup on the table, threw out a tip, picked the novel back up and got up out of his chair.

He shook his head and began making his way to his car. "I can't believe it. He wrote---"

Riley's thoughts were interrupted as he and another man accidentally bumped into each other.

Riley began apologizing. "I'm sorry; I wasn't really looking at where---"

"You're one of the investigators who were looking into Peyton's death."

Riley nodded. "Yeah, who are---"

"My name's Skills…Skills Taylor. I used to know Peyton pretty well back in the day."

"You were at the funeral, right?"

Skills nodded. "Yeah and…man was that sad. What's even sadder is hearing about Lucas. I…I just can't believe that he confessed to killing her. That just makes no sense to me at all."

"Really?" Riley asked, growing inquisitive. "And why is that?"

"Because I've known the guy since I was seven and he doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. Besides, he was always saving Peyton. From school shooters, psycho stalkers. Whenever that girl needed to be rescued from something, someone or herself…Lucas was right there for her. He would always drop everything to help Peyton when she needed him. That's why I just can't imagine Lucas killing her. Or Nathan, Haley or Brooke. None of them would. But they were the only ones in the house so…"

Riley nodded. "You were at the reunion, right? Did you see any interaction between Peyton and Lucas? Peyton and anyone?"

Skills pondered momentarily before answering. "I didn't see her with Lucas. But I did catch her talking to Brooke."

"Were they fighting?"

Skills shook his head. "No. I mean, Peyton was looking a little…distressed and…kinda rough, but I really don't think they were fighting. They're conversation seemed serious and intense, but I wouldn't say in an angry way."

"Did you hear what they were talking about?"

"Not really. All I heard Brooke say was something along the lines of 'I saw you with my own eyes. So just admit it, okay?' It was something like that."

Skills glanced down at his watch. "I gotta get going. I have a flight that leaves in like…an hour. "

Riley nodded "It was nice talking with you too."

Riley watched as Skills walked off. The investigator stood in place for a long while, contemplating.

"I think I need to pay Brooke Davis a little house call."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_That night…_

Brooke heard a knock on her hotel room door and shouted out from the bathroom. "I'm coming!"

She washed her hands, dried them on a towel and headed for the door. She opened it up and saw Riley standing before her.

"What could you possibly want with me now?"

"I want to know what you were talking to Peyton about. What did you see her do?"

Brooke slowly shook her head. "It doesn't matter now." She tried to close the door, but Riley stopped her.

"Well why don't you let me be the judge of that."

Brooke gazed into his eyes, but still remained silent.

Riley sighed. "I need to know what your conversation was about. Because if what you two talked about relates to this case in any way whatsoever I need to know. Lucas he…he's going to be put away for a long time if convicted. If you know something that could get him off, you have to say what it is. I mean, how could you let him spend the rest of his life in a prison cell for a murder he didn't commit? Especially since the crime we're talking about is the murder of your best friend."

Brooke fought hard to blink back her tears.

"I sense your hesitance, but…please. Tell me something…anything."

Brooke walked away from the door and headed toward her window. She sat down on the sill and stared aimlessly at the sky. "I love it when the sun goes down."

Riley eyed the brunette curiously and walked up to the window and stood beside her.

Brooke continued speaking. "Because it's underneath the night sky that true feelings always surface."

"Brooke, what are you trying to get---"

"You can try to resist. You can try to hide from one's kiss. But deep in the dark, you'll always surrender your heart."

Riley pondered Brooke's words and thought back to Peyton's confessional DVD…

_Lucas started to head for the door, but stopped and turned around. "No, I'm not going to walk away from you. Because your not suppose to just walk away from the one you love!"_

_Peyton shook her head. "Love?! How dare you say something like that to me!?"_

_"Why not, it's the truth?!" Lucas yelled out. "I love you Peyton! I…am in love with you! And I know that you're in love with me too!"_

_Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?!"_

_Lucas nodded and walked up closer to her. "Yes. Because if you weren't, you NEVER would've---"_

_"I'm with Julian!" Peyton said interrupting. "He asked me to marry him and I said yes! I said YES! I gave him my word and---"_

_"Your WORD?!" Lucas asked, chuckling angrily. "Your word's pretty much SHOT TO HELL now, don't you think?!"_

"You saw Peyton do something. You saw her…" Riley's voice trailed off and his eyes opened wide as he came to a revelation. "Lucas and Peyton they---"

"Couldn't fight the moonlight."

Brooke sighed as she got up from the sill. She then turned her attention to Riley. "You can see yourself out." The brunette then exited to another room and closed the door behind her.

Riley stood in shock for a long while before finally making his way to the door and leaving Brooke's suite.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Later that night…_

Riley turned to the guard. "Can I speak with him alone?"

The guard nodded. "Sure Riley. Buzz me when you're finished." He then exited.

Riley stared into Lucas's eyes for a long while before he finally took a seat at the table across from the handcuffed blonde.

He placed his copy of _The Comet_ on the table, took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly and began speaking. "You said Peyton loved you. You said she loved you because if she didn't she NEVER would've…"

Riley let his voice trail off, hoping that Lucas would finish his words, but he did not.

"Come on Lucas. Tell me how it happened."

Lucas, who had been staring off into space, directed his attention to Riley. "Tell you how what happened?"

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Riley got up from his chair and walked over to Lucas's side of the table. "What led to it? How did you end up having sex with your ex?"

Lucas stared into his interrogator's eyes but said nothing.

Riley continued on. "Because you and I…we both know you did. I mean, she started talking about how she was marrying Julian and how she gave him her word. And what better way for a girl to have her word shot to hell than by cheating on her fiancé with her ex-husband? So tell me Lucas…did you have sex with Peyton the night of the reunion?"

Lucas sighed and after a long period of silence he finally shook his head. "No. I made love to her."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay! So some interesting stuff is going. Riley is just being plagued by these weird dreams. First, Peyton visits him in the red room and tell him to help Beckah. When he asks her if she knows who killed her, Peyton sadly responds that she does, but doesn't say who. All she says is that she'll always love Beckah. In another dream, Beckah appears, draws a picture of a comet for Riley and tells him how "a boy saw a comet and suddenly felt as though his life had meaning." This leads Riley to Lucas's book, _The Comet._ Why did Beckah want Riley to look at it? Anyways…he later runs into Skills who tells him how he overheard a tiny bit of not an argument, but an intense discussion between Peyton and Brooke. Riley goes to see Brooke and wants to know what the two were talking about and what it was she saw Peyton do. Brooke very reluctantly and indirectly tells Riley she caught Lucas and Peyton in a moment underneath the night sky. Riley asks Lucas about the lovemaking and after a while he finally admits that it did take place. What led to it? And what happened afterwards? And why did Riley bring a copy of _The Comet _with him in the room? Hmm…I don't know. Please read and review with your thoughts/predictions! - Jasmine**

**Coming Up Next…**

**Lucas tells Riley what led to him and Peyton's moment underneath the stars**

**The rest of Lucas's words are revealed (If I can't have you…)**

**"Help me. I have blood on my hands. I need you to wipe it off for me."**

**Nathan looks over the contents of his envelope from Peyton with Haley**


	14. It's Going to Be Alright

**It's Going to Be Alright**

A/N: I've finally updated! Sorry it's been a while. I had trouble writing one of the scenes so I had to step away from it for a little while. Anyways…I hope you all like this chapter! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_A restless Keith stirred in his bed and slowly opened up his eyes._ He _saw a figure standing by his window. _

_Keith sat up, rubbed his eyes and smiled brightly. "Mom…"_

_He pulled his covers back, hopped out of his bed and ran over to her._

_Keith engulfed Peyton in a huge bear hug. "Mom! Is that really you?"_

_Peyton closed her eyes and held onto her son tightly. "Of course it's me."_

_After a long while Peyton broke from the embrace and knelt down to her young son's eyelevel. "I love you Keith, you know that?"_

_Keith nodded his head up and down. "I love you too. And I miss you. I wish you were here with me."_

_"I'm always here with you Keith." She placed her hand on his heart. "Right here."_

_Keith blinked back his tears and offered his mother a half-hearted smile. "I know. It's just…hard because it's not the same. Nothing's…t—the same anymore."_

_Peyton nodded. "I know. And things…they're never going to be the same again. But…in time…everything will get better. I promise."_

_Keith vehemently began shaking his head. "NO THEY WON'T! BECAUSE DAD KILLED YOU! AND I WILL HATE HIM FOREVER FOR TAKING YOU AWAY FROM ME!"_

_"Don't hate your father Keith." Peyton told her son calmly. _

_"WHY SHOULDN'T I?!"_

_Peyton remained silent for a minute. She then stared into her son's eyes, took in a deep breath and finally spoke up. "I need you to do something for me."_

_"What?" Keith asked sniffing._

_Peyton thought long and hard before speaking. "Your sister…she's been having nightmares so she's been coming into your room at night and sleeping with you, right?"_

_"Yes, but what does—"_

_"She sometimes talks in her sleep too, right?"_

_Keith slowly nodded._

_"I know that she usually just mumbles, but tonight you listen to her, okay? Listen carefully to what Beckah says and you ask her about it. Promise me that you'll do that."_

_Keith nodded his head again. "I will. I promise."_

_Peyton kissed his cheeks and cradled her son in her arms. After a long while, she whispered into his ear. "I wish I could hold you in my arms forever. But…I have to let you go now."_

_Keith wiped away a tear. "Can't you please stay with me for a little longer?"_

_Peyton shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. And that's because you have to wake up."_

Keith slowly opened his eyes and when he did he found his little sister standing before him for the third night in a row. He sat up, pulled his covers back and motioned for Beckah to hop in.

"Did you have another bad dream?"

Beckah slid in next to her brother and nodded her head slowly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Beckah pondered momentarily before eventually shaking her head no, turning over to her side and shutting her eyes.

Keith sighed quietly and began staring aimlessly at his ceiling. Just as he started to fall asleep, he heard mumbling coming from his sleeping sister.

"No…" Beckah said softly. "Please don't...please…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Riley got up from his chair and walked over to Lucas's side of the table. "What led to it? How did you end up having sex with your ex?"

Lucas stared into his interrogator's eyes but said nothing.

Riley continued on. "Because you and I…we both know you did. I mean, she started talking about how she was marrying Julian and how she gave him her word. And what better way for a girl to have her word shot to hell than by cheating on her fiancé with her ex-husband? So tell me Lucas…did you have sex with Peyton the night of the reunion?"

Lucas sighed and after a long period of silence he finally shook his head. "No. I made love to her."

_June 2017 - Reunion_

_"I'm not going to let you guys do this to me anymore."_

_Peyton rolled her eyes. "Do what!?"_

_"Make me into this monster that I'm not!" Haley shouted out. "You two are acting like I purposely went out of my way to try and hurt that little girl when I didn't! I would never! UGH…I am so freaking tired of the way the two of you have treated me over these last couple of months over something that I have apologized countless times for! Especially after all that I have done for you over the years! I mean who flew out to __California__ to help you take care of Beckah after she was born? ME! Peyton…who ran your label for over a YEAR while you were going through everything with Keith! ME! Whose shoulder did you cry on after you found out about Lindsey! MINE! And Lucas…who's shoulder did YOU cry on after Peyton left your ass because of your cheating! MINE! Does that not mean anything to the two of you?!"_

_Peyton and Lucas both stared at Haley, but remained silent. Haley continued her rant._

_"I guess it doesn't. Fine whatever. Just know that I'm not going to take it anymore. The attitude, the uncalled for bitchiness…I'm not. Not from YOU Peyton! And Lucas…"_

_Haley stopped talking and walked up to Lucas and glared into his eyes. " Most certainly not from YOU because you and I have gone through TOO MUCH together over the years for you to treat me the way you have been and I'm not going to stand for it ANY longer! Know that!"_

_Haley pushed Lucas out of her way and headed back inside._

_Peyton opened up her mouth in shock, shook her head and began walking off toward the other side of the building._

_Lucas shouted at to her. "Peyton! Wait! Where are you going?"_

_He followed her to the parking lot and saw Peyton heading toward her car. He ran to catch up to her._

_"What are you doing?"_

_Peyton began fumbling around in her purse for her keys. "What does it look like I'm doing?! I'm leaving! I'm out of here."_

_She hit the unlock button on her keys, opened up the driver side's door and hopped in. As Peyton started up the car, Lucas opened up the passenger's side door and hopped in as well._

_Peyton sighed. "Lucas, would you please get out of my car."_

_He turned the car off. "Don't let Haley's outburst get to you."_

_Peyton slammed her hands on the steering wheel and began crying. "But it has! And you know why? Because she's right! About everything! I---I have been treating her like…she were the devil…over s—something that WAS a mistake! And after all she's done for us over the years! I mean…Haley should've listened to you but me not being able to get through to Beckah is not Haley's fault and I've been taking my frustration out on her like it is!"_

_Peyton paused momentarily before continuing. "I'm a terrible person. And I'm an even worse mother."_

_Lucas vehemently shook his head. "Peyton, you're not a terrible person and you are MOST CERTAINTLY not a bad mother! Beckah might…hate us at the moment, but—"_

_"You might think she hates you Lucas…" Peyton began, interrupting. "But I don't think she really does. She looks at you with sadness in her eyes, but she only looks at me with anger, rage and just pure hatred. For some reason our daughter DESPISES me! Despises me MUCH more than she does you and don't even try to deny it because you know it's true! You know it! My God, what is it that I'm missing?! What is it that she needs me to do for her to prove my love?! I…I can't figure it out! WHAT KIND OF MOTHER CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT?!"_

_"PEYTON—"_

_"And what kind of a mother decides to just uproot her kids to a foreign country! Seriously, what the HELL have I been thinking?! What is my problem?!"_

_Lucas took Peyton's hands off of the steering wheel and into his. He stared deeply into her eyes. "Peyton if you're a bad mother then why do you stay up all night with Keith and Beckah whenever they get sick? Why do you spend hours and hours helping them with their homework and school projects? Why would you let them take karate, baseball, dancing, gymnastics and all of their other very expensive, extra curricular activities? Why are you ALWAYS there at their games, tournaments and competitions cheering them on? Why, despite such a heavy workload at times, are you the one picking them up from their school everyday? Their practices? Why would you have done everything in your power to save our son? Why would you be trying everything in your power to help mend our daughter's broken heart? Why would you even care that she's hurting?"_

_Peyton blinked back tears and locked eyes with Lucas, but remained silent and he continued on._

_"It's because you're not a bad mother. All of the many things you do for Keith and Beckah and the obvious, overt love you have for them proves that you're anything but. Now…as for you being a bad person? That's not true either. If you were a bad person you wouldn't spend countless hours of you're free time volunteering at the children's hospital…conducting art classes for all of the sick kids suffering from Diamond Blackface Anemia and the many other related anemia disorders. You wouldn't have started two organizations: one dedicated to DBA, the other for breast cancer research in memory of your mother. You wouldn't be donating such a large portion of all of your yearly earnings from the label on stem-cell research. You wouldn't be traveling around giving speeches…telling our story and advocating stem-cell research's many benefits…providing hope and assurance to the many parents that had lost all hope."_

_Lucas paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath before speaking again. "You're not a perfect person Peyton. You're human and all human's make mistakes and are imperfect. Still…all humans have the potential to be great, but most aren't. I'm 28 years old and I have yet to find a more compassionate, inspiring and loving soul than you and I never will. And that's because in my eyes there's no one more amazing…no one I'm more proud to call the mother of children…no one…I'm more honored to have been able to call my wife and no one as close to perfect as you."_

_Peyton fought hard to blink back her tears, but failed and let them fall down her face. "Y—you really mean that?"_

_Lucas took his thumbs and wiped away Peyton's tears. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."_

_He then leaned his forward against Peyton's, closed his eyes, took his hands and caressed her cheeks. He took in a deep breath and began speaking in a soothing whisper. "I hate that I'm going to have to live with the fact that I hurt you so badly and because of my foolishness, lost the only girl I've ever loved; the only one that I will ever love."_

_"Lucas, you—"_

_"Yes." Lucas said cutting her off. "I love you Peyton. I will always love you."_

_Peyton placed her hand on Lucas's chest and felt his heart nearly pounding out of his chest. She then leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips._

_She then pulled away and the two sat staring at each other for a minute before Peyton looked down, took her hand and slowly began unbuttoning his shirt._

_The two then briefly locked eyes again before both leaned in and engaged in a heated, passionate make-out session. _

_After a long while, Lucas momentarily broke away for air. He brought his hand over to Peyton's left side and started to unzip her dress, but stopped._

_Peyton directed her attention away from Lucas's face and onto his hand. She placed her right hand on top of his, looked back up at him and nodded her head._

_Lucas looked down, took in a deep breath and slowly proceeded to unzip her dress. He then lifted her up, carefully laid her down in the backseat and then hopped into the back himself. Lucas hastily removed his shirt and threw it in the front seat. He then took his hands and slid her dress straps off her shoulders. _

_Lucas then looked back up at Peyton and the two blondes once again locked lips._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What happened after you made love to her?"

Lucas stared down at the table and remained silent for a long while before looking up at Riley and answering his question. "She said it was a mistake."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Where the heck are they?!" Peyton shouted out as she took her hand and felt in between her seats. _

_Lucas sighed. "Peyton, stop moving for a second and please just—"_

_"They have to be in here somewhere." Peyton said aloud to herself, cutting Lucas off. "But I can't find them! This makes no sense! I mean, how in the world did I lose my panties?!""_

_"Peyton, would you forget about your underwear for a second! W—we need to talk!"_

_Peyton shook her head. "There's nothing we need to talk about."_

_"Really?" Lucas asked raising an eyebrow. "So what happened between us was—"_

_"Just sex; a hook up." Peyton said interrupting. "It meant nothing."_

_"It didn't?"_

_Peyton stopped moving, stared into Lucas eye's and remained silent for a long while before responding. "No. What happened…was a mistake. I was upset, you were there for me saying all the right things and I got caught in a moment. That's all. It's never going to happen again." She then went back to looking for her missing panties._

_Lucas shook his head in disbelief. "Peyton why are you lying?"_

_She glared at him. "I'm not."_

_"Yes you are." Lucas stated matter-of-factly. "Because you and I both know that you don't just hook up. You slept with me because your heart was telling you that it was right."_

_Peyton sighed. "Lucas let it go, okay? Just let it go."_

_"I'm not going to do that." Lucas said as he buttoned up his shirt. "If I thought that you really didn't miss me and want me the same way that I miss and want you then…maybe I could. It'd be hard and it would hurt, but if it's what I thought you really wanted…me stepping back…then I would. But I'm now convinced more than ever that you don't want me too! You don't!"_

_Peyton zipped up the side of her dress and folded her arms. "Are you going to get out of my car or not?"_

_Lucas remained still and said nothing._

_"Fine." Peyton said throwing her arms up into the air. "Stay. I'll leave."_

_Peyton reached up to the front of her car, pulled her keys out of the ignition, grabbed her purse, opened up her car door, hopped out and slammed it behind her._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"And then?"

"You know the rest!" Lucas said shouting. "Peyton and I ran into each other in the confessional, we had it out, I threatened her…I threatened her because I couldn't take the fact that she didn't want to be with me and then later I made good on that threat and killed her."

Riley slowly shook his head. "You know…I don't believe a word that is coming out of your mouth right now. You know why?"

Riley picked up The Comet and flipped to a marked passage toward the end of the novel. He got up from his seat and began reciting. "You tell me that you will always love me, but that you never want to see me again and that I need to move on. But I won't do that. I won't, because I can't. You see, if I can't have you…"

Riley let his voice trail off for a minute. He placed the book on table and stared into Lucas's eyes. "If I can't have you, then I don't want anyone. I would rather live the rest of my life alone than live it with anyone other than you...the only woman I love and will never, ever stop loving."

Riley took in a deep breath and sat back down. "That's what you actually whispered into Peyton's ear in the confessional; that short passage from the book you wrote FOR and ABOUT HER."

The young investigator sighed and got up. "I'm not entirely sure whether or not Peyton loved you the way that you loved and STILL love her, but I do know that you loved her far too much to EVER kill her. For some reason you're lying and I will figure out why that it is."

Lucas and Riley glared at each other for a long while before Riley eventually buzzed for the guard. A couple of minutes later he emerged and took Lucas back to his cell.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Later that night a restless Riley tossed and turned in bed…

_He looked around and once again found himself back in the red bedroom. Riley saw Beckah standing beside a window, watching the rain fall outside. He approached the young girl._

_"I did what you asked." Riley said to her. "I read your dad's book and…it made me realize that—"_

_"Daddy loved Mommy." Beckah said interrupting. _

_Riley nodded. "Too much to kill her."_

_"Daddy loved Mommy." Beckah repeated. "Daddy loved Mommy will all his heart."_

_Riley nodded again. "I know he did. That's why I know he didn't kill your mother. So what is it that I'm missing? Why is he saying that he did? Why?"_

_He waited for a verbal response from Beckah, but did not get one. Instead the little blonde girl slowly turned around and revealed her blood-soaked shirt, shorts and hands._

_Riley's jaw dropped in horror and he immediately stepped away from her. "Oh my God!"_

_Beckah grew teary eyed and looked down at her hands. "I have blood on my hands. I need you to wipe it off. Please help me wipe it off."_

_Riley shook his head. "No Beckah, you don't just have blood on your hands. You have it all over you! You're covered in it! W—why are you covered in it?!"_

_Beckah brushed passed Riley and sat down in the middle of the floor. She began crying softly and said quietly over and over to herself. "I'm the reason Mommy's dead. I'm the reason Mommy's dead."_

_A shocked Riley walked up to her and fixed his lips to respond, but then saw Peyton appear seemingly out of thin air._

_He watched her walk over to Beckah. Peyton bent down, wrapped her arms around her daughter, closed her eyes and cradled her. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I should have known. I should've but I didn't. Had I known, I would have saved you. And oh how I wish I could be the one to save you now…be there for you and tell that you that…everything's going to be alright because…it will be Beckah."_

_Peyton then opened up her eyes and looked up at Riley. "It's all going to be alright."_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Riley slowly opened up his eyes and sat up in his bed. He stared aimlessly at the wall and shook his head. "He's protecting Beckah. They're all protecting her. She…she was there that night and she…she killed Peyton. Beckah killed her mother."

Riley sighed. "But…why? I mean…Beckah was angry at BOTH her parents over the whole saving Keith thing, but Peyton's the only one dead so…"

He let his voice trail off as he thought back to Lucas's story at the jail earlier that night. "Peyton thought that…Beckah hated her more than she did Lucas. I wonder if that's true and if it is why? In my dream Peyton was…apologizing to Beckah about not being there for her and about…not knowing something. But what didn't she know?"

Riley laid his head back down on his pillow. "Lucas shouldn't have to spend the rest of his life in prison for a murder he didn't commit, but…that little girl shouldn't be ripped away from the only family she has left over something I'm sure she didn't mean to do. What…what am I going to do?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Keith gently shook his sister. "Beckah wake up."

His sister slowly awakened and stared into her brother's eyes.

The two lied together in silence for a long while before Keith finally spoke up. "I…I heard you say something in your sleep that…we need to talk about. Now I…I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest and tell me the truth, okay?"

Keith whispered into his sister's ear and his words caused Beckah to jump up in fright.

"I'm right aren't I?"

Beckah said nothing. She just began sobbing softly.

Tears began to well up in Keith's own eyes. He wiped them away and hugged Beckah tightly. "It's okay. Everything's going…to be okay. I'm going to protect you. I promise."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you all liked it! Alright there's a lot to talk about, but where shall I begin? How about with the flashback scene? So after Haley ripped in to both Lucas and Peyton and Peyton got really upset by the whole thing and was ready to just up and leave the reunion. She broke down in her car and Lucas was there comforting her and in doing so he also reveals to her the love he still has and will always have for her. This leads to them getting it on in her car. But Lucas reveals to Riley that afterwards Peyton started to ramble about how what happened between them was a huge mistake and that it didn't mean anything and that later on they ended up running into each other in the confessional and had the huge fight where Lucas once again admitted to threatening Peyton. Riley doesn't buy it for a second and recites a short passage from _The Comet_…the one he felt Lucas more than likely whispered into Peyton's ear. Lucas doesn't say whether or not Riley is right though. Do you think he was? So…Riley is pretty sure that Lucas loved Peyton too much to ever hurt her and vows to figure out why Lucas is lying and saying that he killed Peyton when he didn't. He has a dream later that night and sees Beckah again. She tells him that her Daddy loved her Mommy. When he asks her why he's lying, Beckah becomes extremely somber and it's revealed that she's covered from head to toe in blood. She starts pleading with Riley to help her wipe the blood off her hands and she goes on to tell him that she's the reason her mother is dead. Riley is taken very taken aback and clearly wants to know what's going on but he's prevented from inquiring when Peyton emerges and comforts Beckah…telling her little girl that she should've known something and been there for her and that she wishes she had rescued her and that she wishes she could be the one to save her now. Riley wakes up and now seems pretty convinced that Beckah was the one who killed Peyton. He just doesn't know why. He's starting to think, from his dream and from statements Peyton made in Lucas's story that while Beckah might have been upset with both of her parents over the whole Keith thing that maybe her real hatred for Peyton had nothing to do with that at all and the Keith incident just intensified an already growing animosity. So what do you think? Do you think there's another reason Beckah was so mad at Peyton? Peyton more so than Lucas? A reason that caused Beckah to doubt her mother's love, despite all of her constant reassurance? What could it be? There's something that Beckah's been hiding that Peyton wants revealed…as she visited Keith in his dreams and told her son to listen to what his sister says in her sleep and to then ask her about it. Which he does do and whatever it is that he heard Beckah say clearly devastates him. Hmmm….anyways…please review with your thoughts/predictions. I greatly appreciate them! – Jasmine **

**Coming Up…**

**Peyton visits Brooke**

**Nathan and Haley talk**

**Keith makes a shocking, devastating accusation **

**Nathan goes on a rampage**

**"You're so lucky right now! But the next time…you won't be! The next time I lay my eyes on you I'm going to kill you, you hear me?! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"**


	15. Tell You Something

**Tell You Something**

A/N: Here's another update. I hope you guys like it! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_The next morning…_

An extremely groggy Brooke slowly opened up her eyes. She remained in her bed for a long while before eventually getting up and making her way to the bathroom.

Once she reached the bathroom, Brooke flipped the light on and nearly fainted in fright as she looked into the mirror and caught a glimpse of a figure standing behind her.

Brooke turned around and came face to face with Peyton.

The brunette covered her mouth with her hand. "I—I…must be dreaming."

Peyton slowly shook her head. "You're not."

Brooke began growing teary-eyed and went to hug the blonde, but Peyton stepped back. "And because you're not it's against the rules for you to touch me."

Brooke sighed and nodded.

The two best friends stared at each other for a long while before Brooke finally asked. "Why are you here? Why did you come to see me?"

Peyton smiled softly. "I wanted to tell you that you did the right thing."

Brooke eyed the blonde curiously. "You mean…my telling Riley…about you and Lucas?"

Peyton slowly nodded.

Brooke vehemently shook her head. "But it wasn't! How…how could you say that it was?!"

"Because it was."

"How?"

"You'll see." Peyton said quietly.

The blonde walked up closer to Brooke and stared long and hard into her eyes. She then leaned into Brooke's ear and whispered. "Trust your instincts. If your heart is telling you to do something, do it."

The brunette fixed her lips to respond, but before she could Peyton vanished out of the bathroom.

Brooke stood in place for a minute before eventually falling down to the floor, where she began crying softly to herself.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"There you are."

Nathan found his wife sitting alone at the kitchen table. He pulled a chair up next to her and sat down. "What's that?"

"It's Peyton's dove necklace." Haley said looking down at it. "She had uh…lost it a while back…about a month or so before our falling out and a few weeks ago I found it in my car underneath the passenger's seat. It was broken so I had it fixed."

She paused for a moment and then continued. "I remember hearing her talk about how she really wanted to give it to Beckah some day so I…I brought it to the reunion and was planning on giving the necklace back to Peyton figuring that she….might want Beckah to have it now, but…I…I never gave it to her."

Haley held the necklace up in the air and sighed. "I really want to give this to Beckah. I really think she'd like to have it. I just wish that Peyton could have been the one to give it to her."

Nathan nodded his head slowly.

The two sat together for a long while before Nathan spoke up. "I never showed you what was in that envelope did I?"

Haley shook her head. "No, what?"

Nathan got up, exited the kitchen and retrieved the envelope. He returned a moment later and sat back down. He removed a check from the envelope and showed it to Haley.

Her eyes widened in shock. "It's…it's a blank check. Peyton gave you a blank check?!"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, but that's not all."

He pulled out a photograph and a key. "She…she bought me this building too. In her letter Peyton says that she…heard about how I was thinking about starting up an organization and local rehabilitation center here in Tree Hill aimed at helping people like myself…and…considering the fact that most of the NBA money I had has dwindled…she did all of this so…"

He let his voice trail off as he read a portion of her letter. "So you can make that new dream of yours come true."

Haley shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe she went and did all of that for you."

"Neither can I." Nathan said as he placed of the contents back into the envelope. "Neither can I. And what sucks so much about it all is that…I never got the chance to thank her for it."

The two sat together for a long while in silence before Haley asked. "Do you want to maybe go and visit the kids? I really want to see how their doing."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, so do I. Let's go."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Keith, not wanting to wake up Beckah, slowly and quietly snuck out of his bed. He headed toward his closet, pulled out his baseball bat, and tip toed out of his room. He headed down the stairs and into the basement.

Once he reached the basement he put the bat down on the ground and made his way over to some boxes; boxes full of his and Beckah's things from their mother's house in Charlotte. Keith grabbed two of Beckah's boxes and began sifting through them.

Keith eventually found what it was that he was looking for, a music box, and removed it from among Beckah's things. He stared at the pretty yellow music box in his hands and let his mind drift…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_October 2016 – __Charlotte_

_Keith exited the playroom and as he made his way upstairs towards the kitchen he saw Beckah and Julian standing outside the bathroom._

_Julian bent down in front of Beckah and presented her with the yellow music box. "I bought this for you. Do you like it?"_

_Beckah grinned and nodded. _

_Julian smiled. "I'm glad."_

_He took his hand, stroked Beckah's hair and gave her a long, lingering kiss on the forehead. "You're such a pretty girl Beckah. Such a pretty girl…"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An angry, red-faced Keith set the music box down on the floor and picked up his baseball bat. He lifted the bat over his head and began smashing the music box.

Once he had broken it into what looked like a million little pieces, Keith made his way back to the box and pulled out a porcelain doll. He laid it on the ground and smashed that to bits too.

Just as Keith had finished, Karen and Andy emerged into the basement from upstairs, having been awakened by their grandson.

"Keith, what in the world are you doing?!" Karen asked.

Keith ignored her and with the bat made his way to the corner of the room, where Beckah's dollhouse stood and with all his might began swinging.

Andy ran over to Keith and wrestled the bat away from him.

"Give it back!" He yelled out.

"No, I'm not going to do that. Now I want you tell me why you're destroying all of your sister's things!"

Keith shook his head. "I'm not! Just the stuff from…"

He let his voice trail off. He then dropped his bat and hurried toward the stairs where he saw Beckah quietly standing and watching from atop.

"It's not your fault Beckah." Keith said as he ran up the stairs. When he reached the top he stopped and stared into her eyes. "So tell them. Y—you have to tell them."

Karen and Andy both glanced at each other and then made their way upstairs.

"What's going on?" Karen asked looking at Keith. "What is it that you want your sister to tell us?"

Keith stared at Beckah, waiting for her to speak, but instead the little girl just looked down and dropped her head in shame.

Keith redirected his gaze toward his grandmother. "She…she's—"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Keith stood outside of Karen and Andy's bedroom, quietly watching Karen with Beckah.

"You're going to be okay Beckah." Karen said to her granddaughter, hugging her tightly. "I'm here and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you ever again."

Keith sighed and made his way toward the kitchen where he saw Andy pacing around, Haley desperately trying to hold it together and not cry and a stone-faced Nathan staring aimlessly at the wall.

The kitchen was silent for a long while before Nathan finally turned his attention to his wife and spoke. "Give me your car keys."

Haley sighed. "Nathan—"

"Give me your car keys."

Haley didn't budge so Nathan got up from his chair at the table, walked over to Haley, took her purse and began sifting through her bag in search of her keys.

"Nathan, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what Lucas can't." Nathan said as he pulled the keys from Haley's bag, dropped the bag on the table, headed toward the front door and exited the house.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Nathan pounded hard on Larry's front door. "Open up!"

A few moments later the door opened and Larry appeared. "Nathan, what are you—"

"Is Julian here?" He asked.

Larry eyed Nathan curiously and slowly nodded. "Yes, he's helping me—"

"What do you want?" Julian asked, emerging before Nathan.

"Can you step out here please?" Nathan asked as he stepped down the front stairs and stood at the bottom.

Julian rolled his eyes, but walked down and came face to face with Nathan. "What's this abo—"

Julian's words were cut off by a blow to the head from Nathan. Julian fell down to the ground hard and Nathan hopped on top of him and began punching the living daylights out of him.

"YOU SICK, TWISTED SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Nathan shouted out as he continued to beat the crap out of Julian.

It was at that moment that Larry and two male neighbors who were witnessing this scene ran over to Nathan and pulled him off of Julian.

"Nathan, stop it!" Larry shouted out. "Stop—"

"HE'S BEEN MOLESTING BECKAH!" Nathan yelled out. "AND HE'S BEEN DOING IT FOR MONTHS NOW!"

Larry's jaw dropped. He let go of Nathan and glared at Julian. "Tell me that's not true."

Julian slowly got up and wiped away the blood from his mouth. He stared long and hard into Larry's eyes before responding. "It's…n—not true. I would never hurt that little girl. I—I love her."

"You WHAT?!" Nathan shouted out as he tried to lunge for Julian. "YOU LOVE HER?!"

Larry shook his head in disgust. "Get off of my property."

Julian sighed. "Larry, I didn't mean it like—"

"Do what he says." The blond-haired neighbor holding Nathan back said to him. "Before my buddy and I here let him go."

Julian looked back and forth between Nathan and Larry before making his way towards his car across the street.

Nathan tried desperately to escape from the men's grasps but couldn't so he started to shout out to Julian. "You're so lucky right now, but the next time…you won't be! The next time I lay my eyes on you I'm going to kill you, you hear me?! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Nathan you…probably shouldn't have done what you did." Haley told her husband as they made their way into the police station. "I mean, what would have happened if no one had been around to stop you?!"

"I would've killed him." Nathan stated simply.

Once the two were inside they headed straight toward the front desk.

"I'm here to report a crime." Nathan frantically told the officer.

"And I'm here to see my brother-in-law, Lucas Scott." said an anxious Haley. "I need to see him immediately. It's important."

The young officer motioned for another nearby officer to come over.

"Frank, can you take Mrs. Scott to see Lucas Scott."

Frank nodded and led Haley down the hall.

The officer at the front desk then redirected his attention to Nathan. "You're Nathan Scott, right?"

Nathan vehemently nodded his head up and down. "Yes!

"Ok, now what is it that you want to report to me?"

Nathan took in a deep breath. "My niece…my brother Lucas's daughter, Rebecca…she has been molested."

"She's been what?!" a voice from behind Nathan asked.

Nathan turned around and came face to face with Riley.

"She's been molested…by Peyton's fiancé…Julian Baker."

Riley opened up his mouth in shock and shook his head. "Oh my God. Oh…my…God."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Haley sat down in front of the glass screen, slowly picked up the phone and spoke into it softly. "Hi."

"Haley...what's wrong?" Lucas asked, sensing the pain in his best friend's voice.

She tried her hardest to blink back her tears, but failed miserably and let them fall down her cheeks. 'I…I have t—to tell you…something that's…really g—going to…h—hurt you."

"W—what…is it?"

Haley sighed. "Beckah she's…"

"She what Haley!?" He asked growing panic-stricken.

"Beckah's been abused Lucas." Haley whispered out. "She's been abused…by Julian."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is. Pretty intense chapter. So we learned that Beckah's been abused by Julian. Keith found out about it while Beckah was talking in her sleep. He went on a violent little rampage of his own, demolishing all of the things Julian's ever given his sister. Beckah seemed really scared and ashamed to say anything about it, even after Keith pleaded for her to, so he ended up telling Karen and Andy. Nathan and Haley…who had decided to stop by the house and see how Keith and Beckah were doing learn of what happened and Nathan takes justice into his own hands by going to see Julian and being the crap out of him. He might only have one leg, but he did a pretty good job until he was restrained. Now…Nathan and Haley went down to the police station to report it and Riley hears about it and is shocked. While Nathan's talking to the officers, Haley goes to see Lucas and tells him about what happened to Beckah. I hope I didn't bother anyone too badly with this chapter. I'm not going to be like graphic about anything, I promise, so I hope you all will still read. Anyways…what do you all think is going to happen next? How do you think Lucas is going to react to the news? What do you think Riley's going to do now that he's learned about what happened with Beckah? Should a young traumatized child be held responsible for something such as killing her mother? That's probably what Riley is asking himself. Oh…and is Julian going to be punished for what he did to her? Can it be proven? Peyton clearly wanted this to be known so what is it that she's hoping for in regards to what happens with Lucas and Beckah? Please review with your thoughts/predictions…no matter how long! I enjoy reading what you guys have to say! – Jasmine**

**Still to come…**

**Lucas's reaction**

**Riley finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place**

**The doctor, who happens to be Riley's wife Kate, examines Beckah and her findings are not good for a number of different reasons**


	16. Someone to Save You

**Someone to Save You**

A/N: Here's another update. It might be a while before I'll be able to update again because I have a lot of school work to do, but who knows. Oh and I think I should probably up this story's rating? Idk, you tell me if you think I should after reading this chapter. Anyways…I hope you all enjoy this REALLY long update! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Haley...what's wrong?" Lucas asked, sensing the pain in his best friend's voice.

She tried her hardest to blink back her tears, but failed miserably and let them fall down her cheeks. 'I…I have t—to tell you…something that's…really g—going to…h—hurt you."

"W—what…is it?"

Haley sighed. "Beckah she's…"

"She what Haley!?" He asked growing panic-stricken.

"Beckah's been abused Lucas." Haley whispered out. "She's been abused…by Julian."

A stunned Lucas dropped the phone and buried his face into his hands. After a minute he lifted his head up and revealed his tear-stricken face. He slowly picked the phone back up and stuttered out. "T—tell me…tell me that y—you didn't…j—just say…w—what I…t—think you…said."

Haley slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry Lucas. I'm so sorry."

Lucas burst into tears and once again dropped the phone. He got up from his seat, turned his back to Haley and just sobbed.

He eventually turned back around, sat down in his chair and picked up the phone.

"H—how do y—you…know?" Lucas asked, sniffling. "Did she…s—say something to someone?"

"She…sort of told Keith. Beckah's been…having nightmares and has been sleeping with Keith and he…he heard her talking in her sleep about Julian; heard her begging him to stop touching her because…because he was hurting her and she didn't like it."

"Oh God…" Lucas said quietly into the phone. He paused for a moment and then asked. "H—how long Haley? H—how long?"

Haley sighed. "Keith heard her say…something about…her umm…Halloween costume from last year…so it's been…at least since October. At least that's what I think. It's hard to know for sure because…she isn't really talking about it. Beckah she…she would just cry whenever Karen and I…tried asking her about it."

Lucas tried his hardest to blink back his tears, but couldn't and a flood of tears just poured down his face.

He shook his head. "It…it was never really about Keith. Beckah…she was angry because Peyton and I…w—we…we didn't protect her from HIM!"

"Lucas—"

"HOW DID I NOT KNOW?!" Lucas shouted out. He then got up from his seat. "HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT FOR ALL THESE MONTHS NOW JULIAN HAS BEEN HAVING HIS WAY WITH MY SIX-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER?!"

Lucas slowly sat back down in his seat and paused for a moment before continuing. "Beckah she…she needed someone to save her from that SICK BASTARD and I didn't do that because I didn't know! I SHOULD'VE known! But I didn't and I kept sending her back to Peyton's! To HIM!"

"Lucas don't blame—"

"She begged me to let her stay."

Haley eyed her friend confusingly. "W—what are you—"

"The week before Thanksgiving…Beckah and Keith had…s—spent the weekend with me and Peyton had…come to pick them up and Beckah she…she asked if she could stay with me for a…a couple of more days and…"

Lucas let his voice trail off for a minute before he spoke again. "I didn't let her. I didn't let her…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

_November 2016 – Tree Hill_

_"Beckah, your mother and Keith are waiting for you in the car."_

_"I know." Beckah said, hugging her father tightly. "But I don't want to leave. Can't I stay with you for a little longer?"_

_Lucas sighed. "Beckah you can't."_

_Beckah let go of her father and stared into his eyes. "Why not? Y--you don't want me with you?"_

_Lucas shook his head. "Honey, I love having you here with me. It's just…you have school back in Charlotte tomorrow and you were out all of last week because you were sick with the flu so you really can't miss anymore days."_

_Beckah sighed and dropped her head in disappointment._

_Lucas tried to lift his daughter's spirits. "Look Beckah…you and your brother will be back here in Tree Hill in just a few days for Thanksgiving and if your mother says it's alright you can spend the long weekend with me, okay?"_

_Beckah slowly nodded her head._

_Lucas gave his daughter another hug, stood up and extended his hand out to her. "Come on, I'll walk you outside."_

_Beckah took his hand and the two headed off outside together._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I made her go!" Lucas cried out into the phone. "If I had even SLIGHTLY suspected that Julian was doing anything to her I would've kept her with me! AND I MOST CERTAINTLY WOULD HAVE MADE SURE HE NEVER, EVER WENT NEAR BECKAH AGAIN BY PUTTING THAT SON-OF-A-BITCH SIX FEET UNDER!"

Haley eyed the guard behind Lucas and began shaking her head. She whispered into the phone. "Lucas, don't…don't make threats like that. You—"

"I DON'T CARE HALEY!" Lucas shouted out to her. "I DON'T CARE WHAT HE HEARS ME SAY! IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER NOW ANYWAYS BECAUSE I CAN'T KILL HIM LOCKED UP IN HERE!"

"And I can't be with Beckah." Lucas said quietly as he rubbed his puffy, red eyes. "She needs me now more than ever and I...I can't be with her."

Lucas slowly put down the receiver, placed his face into his hands and began sobbing softly while Haley watched on helplessly, longing to comfort him, but couldn't.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Telling Lucas about Beckah was…the hardest thing I ever had to do."

Nathan put his arm around Haley. "I know it was. I know."

Brooke, who was standing the window, just shook her head and sighed. "This is terrible. This is all…s—so terrible."

Nathan slowly nodded his head in agreement. "And what sucks more than anything is that Lucas isn't going to be able to help see Beckah through everything."

The living room filled with silence. Brooke stood pondering Nathan's words for a long while before eventually turning around, directing her attention toward the couple and speaking. "That's not necessarily true."

Haley eyed the brunette curiously. "What are you saying?"

Brooke sighed as she walked over to the couch and sat down next to Haley. "What I'm saying is that…Lucas doesn't HAVE to be put away in a prison cell for the rest of his life."

Nathan shook his head. "You can't seriously be thinking about—"

"Yes." Brooke said cutting him off. "I am seriously considering…telling the truth about…everything."

Nathan glared at her. "Brooke, are you crazy? If we tell the truth about what happened to Peyton, then Beckah will be taken away and put into some detention center. Do you want that to happen?!"

"Of course not!" Brooke snapped back. "You know I never would suggest coming forward with the truth if I thought that would happen!"

"Well what do you think is going to happen if we tell the police that it was Beckah who killed Peyton?!"

"Nothing." Brooke said calmly. "I've been doing some research and I think that…because of Beckah's age and considering the fact she's clearly been traumatized by Julian that she won't be held accountable for a crime none of us are even entirely sure she did intentionally."

Nathan shook his head. "It'd be stupid to come forward with the truth not knowing for a FACT that nothing bad will happen to Beckah."

Haley nodded. "I agree."

"So don't even think about going behind our backs and doing it Brooke." Nathan told the brunette.

Brooke looked back and forth between Haley and Nathan before finally sighing and agreeing. "Okay. I won't."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"What is taking Dr. Thompson so long?" Moore asked looking at his watch.

Riley shrugged. "I have no clue."

Colleen, the redheaded ADA who had accompanied Moore and Riley to the hospital checked the time on her watch. "I have to be in court in an hour. She really needs to get going or else I'm going to have to leave."

A couple of more minutes passed and just as Moore was about to head over to the front desk to see what was causing the hold up, Kate appeared from around the corner and made her way over to the trio.

"Kate, you're the one who's going to be doing the exam for us?" Riley asked his wife.

His wife gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and nodded. "Yes, Dr. Thompson went home sick and I'm the only other female doctor on duty that's trained in conducting such examinations."

Kate grabbed the clipboard from outside the door of the examination room where Beckah sat waiting. She began looking through the chart and sighed. "Oh no, Rebecca Scott. Isn't that the little girl whose mother was murdered—"

"By her father?" Colleen asked interrupting. "Yes."

Kate glanced over at her husband but said nothing. She continued to look over Beckah's chart. "So the accused is the mother's fiancé?"

Riley nodded. "Yeah."

Kate nodded, removed a pen from her pocket and jotted down some notes. Just as she was about to make her way into the room, Moore stopped her.

"Are you…really the only doctor here that can do this?" Moore asked hesitantly.

Kate eyed him curiously. "Unless you would like a man to do the examination, then yes."

"But there has to be another female doctor who can conduct this, I mean…we are in a hospital."

An extremely insulted Kate glared at Moore. "What's wrong with me? Not only am I the only female doctor here that is specifically trained in handling the sexual assault examinations, but I'm also the only PEDIATRICIAN on this entire staff in this departmental wing of the hospital who knows what to do! I'm also the SUPERIOR of Dr. Thompson and every other damn doctor that's apart of this staff!"

"You know there's no one more qualified then Kate." an agitated Riley chimed in.

"I agree." Colleen said as she slid her sidekick into her purse. "Kate's the best."

Moore sighed and turned his attention to the blonde. "It has nothing to do with your skills. It's just…"

"It's just what?"

Moore walked over to the chair where he laid his briefcase down. He opened it up, pulled out a file, removed a photograph from it, walked back over to Kate and handed it to her. "You look so much like that little girl's dead mother. It might freak her out to have you as her doctor."

"So Kate and Peyton both have green eyes and curly blonde hair…" Riley began as he made his way over to Moore and his wife. "They don't really look a like to me…"

Riley let his voice trail off as he glanced at the photo and then looked up at his wife. "On second thought, I guess there is a…slight resemblance. It's weird that I've never really noticed before."

"A slight resemblance?" Colleen asked, taking a look at the photo. "Kate…your hair's a bit blonder but other than that, you could seriously be this woman's doppelganger. Especially with your hair down like you have it now."

Kate sighed and then handed the photograph back to Moore. "I'll be right back."

She retreated to her office down the hall and a couple of minutes later Kate reappeared with her hair back in a messy bun and wearing a pair of brown horn rimmed glasses on her face.

"Do I look a little bit less like her now?"

Moore looked at her and nodded. "That's a bit better. Go on ahead."

Kate took in a deep breath, slowly made her way to the examination room door and opened it up.

She closed the door behind her and placed her clipboard on the counter in the corner of the room. She then walked over to Karen and extended her hand out to her. "Hi, you must be Karen. I'm Dr. Riley."

Karen feigned a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

Kate nodded and then turned her attention to Beckah. The doctor bent down to the little girl's eyelevel and smiled. "You must be Rebecca."

Beckah stared long and hard into Kate's eyes before slowly nodding her head.

"Rebecca's a beautiful name. I have a sister named Rebecca. I call her Becky, but I hear you like to be called Beckah, right?"

Beckah nodded, but said nothing.

"Well my name is Dr. Riley, but all my friends call me Kate and you can call me Kate too, okay?"

Beckah nodded once again.

"Okay. Now…I'm here to do a little check up on you today. It's nothing to worry about. I'm just going to check a couple of things out. Your grandmother…she's going to be right here with you the entire time and if at any point, you feel uncomfortable or…you want me to stop I will. You just let me know."

The little girl whispered out. "Okay."

Kate nodded. "Okay, let's get started."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore, Riley and Colleen were in a nearby waiting room while Kate examined Beckah.

Moore headed off down the hall to take a call while Colleen was busy listening to her voicemails. Riley stared aimlessly out of a window and slowly started to dose off…

_"Here I am again." Riley said to himself aloud, looking around the red bedroom. "Who's it going to be this time? Peyton or Beckah?"_

_It was at that moment that he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and came face to face with Peyton. _

_"So it's you today." He said to the blonde._

_Peyton remained quiet. She began walking toward a door on the other side of the room and motioned for Riley to follow her._

_"Where are you taking me?" _

_Peyton ignored his question. When they reached the door she looked over at him. "Go on. Open it."_

_Riley shifted his gaze away from Peyton and onto the doorknob. He took in a deep breath, extended his hand out toward the knob, slowly turned it and opened up the door._

_Riley exited the red bedroom and found himself alone in a hallway._

_"Where the heck am I?" He thought aloud._

_Riley then started to hear voices coming from the room located down at the end of the hall and decide to head towards it._

_He noticed that the door was slightly ajar so he just pushed it open. He saw Beckah sitting on her bed and Julian kneeling in front of her._

_"I love you Beckah." Julian told the little girl. "And I love showing you how much I love you."_

_He took his hand, caressed Beckah's cheek and kissed her on the forehead. "Now remember…you're not allowed to talk about what we do. It's not because it's bad. After all, your mother…she knows about what we do and she'd never let me do bad things to you. Still what we do…it's not something you talk about at home or in public to others because if you told someone…like your brother or one of your friends or someone else, they'd be so jealous of you and it's not a nice thing to do…making people jealous, now is it?"_

_Beckah slowly shook her head no._

_Julian nodded. "Okay, I'll leave you alone in your room for a while. I'll call you when dinner's ready."_

_He walked over to Beckah's dresser and opened up her music box. Her room flooded with the sounds of the song Beautiful Dreamer. _

_Julian smiled at Beckah, walked right past Riley and exited the room._

_Riley shook his head in disgust. "He seriously needs to rot in a prison cell for the rest of his life."_

_Riley watched as Beckah slowly climbed off of her bed and made her way to the music box. Tears started to well up in the little girl's eyes as she listened to the song and watched the ballerina figurine inside the box spin around. _

_After a long while, Beckah finally wiped away her tears, took her hands and slammed the music box shut._

_She then walked back over to her bed and lied down. She stared long and hard at a framed photograph on her night stand of her, Peyton and Keith._

_Beckah picked up the frame and hastily took the photograph out of it. She ripped Peyton out of the photo and placed the portion of her and Keith back in the frame._

_Beckah then ripped up the Peyton portion of the photograph to what looked like a million little pieces and scattered the remnants all over the floor. The little girl then buried her face into her pillow and quietly sobbed._

_Riley sighed and shook his head._

_"She thought I was letting him do it."_

_Riley turned around and saw Peyton standing before him._

_"That's why she was REALLY angry at me." Peyton said as she walked up to Beckah's bed and stared down at her daughter. "Me more so than anyone else."_

_She looked back over at Riley. "Beckah she…she needed someone to save her and if I had known what was going on I would have saved her. I would have rescued her from him and made sure he never hurt her again."_

_Riley nodded. "I know you would have."_

_Peyton looked back down at Beckah. She then climbed on top of the bed and cuddled up close to her._

_"The truth will set you free Beckah." Peyton said quietly into her daughter's ear, though Riley could hear. "The truth will set you free."_

Colleen smacked Riley in the arm. "Wake up."

The officer stirred and slowly opened up his eyes. "What's going on? Is Kate finished?"

"No." Colleen said shaking her head. "But you shouldn't be sleeping. If Moore had seen you dosing off—"

"He'd be pissed, I know." Riley said sitting up in his chair.

The two sat together in silence for a long while before Riley spoke up. "Col, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Okay well…you know I haven't really lived in North Carolina all that long and I'm still trying to familiarize myself with laws concerning children and crime and I was wondering what the age of criminal responsibility is here?"

"North Carolina isn't one of the fifteen states that have a minimum age in which the state deems children to be held responsible for a crime so we go by U.S. common law which says that a child under the age of seven is conclusively presumed incapable of committing a crime."

Riley nodded. "I see. Well does the severity of the crime matter at all?"

The ADA eyed him curiously. "Riley what are you—"

"Hypothetically speaking…" Riley began, cutting her off. "If a…six-year-old child; a severely traumatized six-year-old child…murdered someone…would they be held accountable for the killing?"

Colleen stared long and hard into Riley's eyes. She then directed her gaze onto Beckah's examination room and then back on to him. "Don't tell me that you have reason to suggest that—"

"Right now, I'm only speaking HYPOTHETICALLY." The officer told the attorney.

Colleen sighed. "Well 'hypothetically speaking…' most likely…not. But an ADA could still pursue a case against the child if they wanted to."

"Would an ADA such as yourself do something like that?" Riley asked.

Colleen bit her lip and sighed. "For me it would depend on the situation, but in the circumstance that you're hypothetically speaking of…no. This ADA wouldn't."

Riley nodded his head. "That's good to know."

Just then, Kate emerged from the examination room and closed the door behind her. Moore, who had been talking down the hall on his cell, ended his phone call and he, along with Riley and Colleen, made his way over to her.

"Well?" Moore asked. "What are the results?"

Kate scribbled a note on her chart quickly and then looked up at the trio and sighed. "Inconclusive."

Riley shook his head. "Why is that? Was there not enough physical evidence or something?"

"Well…there were no obvious signs of any STD's though I'll have to wait for the blood test results to be 100% sure of that. The hymen is still very much intact and there are absolutely no signs of vaginal abuse. I did however find particular lacerations and bruising commonly associated with sexual abuse around the anal area. I also have reason to believe that digital penetration might have occurred there as well."

"Well then how are your results inconclusive?" Moore asked confused.

Kate sighed. "Because the types of lacerations that I found are occasionally found in children that haven't been abused because they can be caused by a number of different things, such as hard fall while playing sports. Beckah is an active child who does gymnastics and ice skating. So one might try and say that—"

"Her bruising resulted from one of her athletic activities?" Colleen asked.

Kate nodded. "Exactly."

"But what about the fingering?" Riley asked his wife.

The blonde sighed. "That's the thing…I found evidence that suggest digital penetration, but it's possible that the penetration could have been caused by something else."

"Like what?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Lots of different things. Like soap crayons for instance. The grandmother told me that Beckah owns soap crayons and a defense lawyer might try and say that she got curious and attempted to stick a crayon up her self."

Moore sighed. "So there's no real solid proof that unequivocally proves that that little girl has been sexually assaulted."

Kate shook her head. "None unfortunately."

Moore turned his attention to Colleen. "Would we be able to get a conviction if we tried the mother's boyfriend?"

Colleen sighed. "Considering there's a lack of solid evidence and because our victim isn't really talking…it doesn't seem likely. Still, I never go down without a fight and I will try my hardest to see that this guy does some hard time. And who knows…maybe Beckah will talk. I mean, she hasn't seen the psychologist yet, right? Maybe with some effort she'll get the little girl to open up some."

Colleen checked her watched. "I'm sorry guys, but I got to get going. Call me if you hear something or find out any new information."

The ADA gave them all a small smile and then hurried off down the hall, toward an exit.

Moore fixed his lips to speak, but his cell started ringing so he took off down the hall and answered it, leaving Kate and Riley alone by the examination room.

"Is she getting changed?" Riley asked his wife.

Kate nodded. "Yes."

He sighed. "It SUCKS that you weren't able to find hardcore, physical evidence that would nail her molester."

Just then, Karen and Beckah emerged from the examination room. Karen walked up to Kate and shook her hand. "Thank you…for being so kind and patient. The world really needs more people like you."

Kate offered her a small smile and watched as Karen and Beckah made their way down the hall toward the exit.

About halfway down the hall, Beckah let go of her grandmother's hand and stood in place. She turned around and headed back toward Riley and his wife.

Beckah slowly walked up to Kate and looked up at her. Kate bent down and smiled softly at the little girl.

Beckah took her hands and carefully removed Kate's glasses from her face. She gazed long and hard into the doctor's green eyes before taking her left hand and undoing her hair bun, watching the doctor's loose blonde curls hit her shoulders.

She placed the glasses and hair tie on the ground and stared at the doctor for a minute. She then stepped up to Kate and hugged her.

The doctor returned the little girl's hug and after a long while Beckah finally let go, made her way back over to Karen and the two then left the hospital wing together.

Kate picked up her glasses and hair tie up from off the floor and stood up. She looked over at her husband and sighed. "My heart aches for that little girl."

Riley walked over to his wife and put his arm around her. "So does mine. So does mine."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you liked it! So…Lucas was absolutely devastated after Haley told him about Beckah. He felt so bad and guilty because he felt that he didn't know what was happening to her and didn't protect her from Julian. Brooke really wants to get Lucas out of jail so he can be there for Beckah and thinks it would be best if they told the truth about everything because she doesn't believe the little girl would be punished for killing Peyton. Nathan and Haley aren't 100% sure of that though and don't want to risk coming forward with the truth. Riley seems to be thinking along side Brooke's mindset. Brooke's the only one who he's gotten to really talk to him so might he try to get her to tell him the truth about that night? Anyways…Riley's wife Kate is the doctor and she examined Beckah and found some signs of probable abuse, but the lacerations and bruising she found could have resulted from something other then sexual abuse. So that's not great news. And even with the glasses and the hair pulled back, Beckah clearly saw the resemblance between her mother and Kate. Why do you think Beckah hugged her at the end? And what do you make of Riley's dream? Julian's scum for telling Beckah that Peyton was okay with what he was doing to her. No wonder that little girl was so angry! And what do you think of Peyton's words to Beckah…the truth will set you free? Hmmm. Anyways…please, please review with your thoughts/comments! I really appreciate them! – Jasmine**

**Coming Up…**

**Riley goes to see Brooke**

**Moore and Riley question Julian **


	17. Happily Never After

**Happily Never After **

A/N: Here's another update. Sorry it's been a while, but I am seriously SWAMPED with school work!! I wrote two papers, still have three more to write before my semester ends in like two weeks and I also got cast as an extra in the new Angelina Jolie movie, _Salt, _which their filming in my hometown!! So that being said…after this update it might be a couple of weeks before you see another one. But anyways…I hope you all like this chapter. It's not what I said it was going to be…though all of those things I said in the previews will happen at some point. Just not in this chapter. This one will instead consist of a bunch of flashbacks. Ok, so here it is…I hope you all like it! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Later that evening..._

A teary-eyed Lucas sat down on his cot and began staring aimlessly at the wall.

"I didn't protect her." He said to himself quietly. "I let him hurt my little girl and now Beckah she…she's never going to be the same again. Nothing's ever…g—going to be the same again."

Tears began to flood down Lucas's face. "If I hadn't been such an idiot Peyton never would've left me. She never would have gotten together with Julian and…nothing would've happened to Beckah and Beckah never would've…"

Lucas let his voice trail off and he began crying uncontrollably.

"W—we were supposed to be…t—together." He said in between sobs. "We were supposed to be together..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_May 2009 – __Bahamas_

_"It has been raining since we landed." Lucas said as he stared out of the hotel room window. "And it's going to rain the entire time we're here. All of the cool things I had planned for us…have been cancelled."_

_Peyton got up from the bed and walked over to Lucas. "It's okay honey. We can always come back again and do—"_

_"But this is supposed to be our honeymoon!" Lucas said interrupting. "And I really wanted it to be great. Especially since our wedding day was such a disaster."_

_"It wasn't a disaster."_

_Lucas eyed his new wife curiously. "It wasn't a disaster? Peyton, what do you call Lily throwing up all over my shoes, our ring bearer tripping down the aisle and bending your wedding band, the caterers dropping our cake onto the ground and the sprinklers going off in the reception hall as we took our first dance?"_

_Peyton leaned in and gave Lucas a long, lingering kiss on the lips before responding. "I call that day…the day I got to say I do to the man of my dreams…the best day of my life."_

_Lucas shook his head and chuckled. "It was the best day of my life too."_

_Peyton smiled and the two kissed again._

_"I'm still going to make it up to you though." Lucas told her. "I'm going to give you that perfect wedding of your dreams. And perfect honeymoon. I promise."_

_Peyton shook her head. "But Lucas, this IS the perfect honeymoon! It might be raining for the next seven days or so but that doesn't mean we can't make this trip one to remember because inside..."_

_Peyton led Lucas over to the bed and lied down. "We can make love all…week…long."_

_Lucas smiled. "That we can do."_

_He lied down beside Peyton and stared into her green eyes. "And that's exactly what we're going to do!"_

_Peyton giggled as she climbed on top of Lucas and the two locked lips._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_February 2011 – __Los Angeles_

_Lucas looked down at his son. "How you doing buddy? You feeling okay?"_

_The toddler lifted his little head off of Lucas's shoulder and slowly nodded._

_"You ready to go see your Mama and new sister?"_

_Keith nodded again._

_Lucas smiled. "Okay, let's go."_

_The two headed off down the hall, around the corner and into Peyton's hospital room, where she sat in the bed holding Rebecca._

_She looked up and smiled. "There are my two favorite guys."_

_Peyton shifted the baby into her left arm and motioned for her husband to bring Keith over to her and to lie down in the bed beside her._

_Lucas walked over, carefully sat Keith down on the bed next to Peyton and then sat down himself._

_Peyton moved the baby closer over to her son so he could see her. "Keith…this is your sister, Rebecca. She's pretty, right?"_

_Keith smiled and looked at his new little sister in awe. He then fixed his mouth to speak and attempted to say her name._

_"B—b…ec…kah."_

_Peyton and Lucas looked at each other and started laughing._

_"You almost got it honey." Peyton told Keith as she began stroking his hair with her free hand._

_"Beckah." Lucas said aloud. "That's got a nice ring to it."_

_Lucas leaned over closer to the infant, picked up her little hand, kissed it and smiled down at his daughter. "You definitely look like a Beckah." _

_Peyton nodded. "I agree. She does look like a Beckah."_

_Keith grinned and clapped his little hands. "Beckah!" _

_Lucas and Peyton smiled down at Keith and Beckah and then looked up at each other._

_"Everything's going to work out." Peyton said to her husband. "We're ALL going to live happily ever after. I just know it."_

_Lucas leaned in and gave his wife a kiss on the lips. "So do I."_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_June 2012 – Tree Hill_

_Peyton laid her head down on Lucas's shoulder and stared at the sunset. "This is beautiful."_

_He kissed her on the forehead. "It is. I wish the sun could always stay this way."_

_"It can." _

_Lucas eyed his wife curiously. "It can?"_

_Peyton nodded. "It can in your dreams."_

_"Is that so?"_

_She nodded again. "Yea. So…whenever you want to see it, all you have to do is dream."_

_Peyton snuggled up closer to Lucas and the two sat together for a long while in silence, just admiring the sunset._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A devastated Lucas placed his head into his hands and continued to cry softly.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Charlotte__…_

"I can't believe I have to go to down to that fucking police station tomorrow." Julian said to himself as he anxiously paced about his living room.

"All because of Keith!" Julian shouted aloud as he plopped down on his couch. "That little fucking snot."

Julian sighed and began staring aimlessly off into space. After a long while he finally got up and made his way over to the end table and picked up a photo of him and Peyton.

He stared long and hard at the photo and thought back…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Charlotte__ – November 2016_

_A sleepy Julian slowly opened up his eyes. He stretched and turned to his side and noticed that Peyton was not lying next to him._

_"Where is she?" He asked himself aloud._

_Julian pulled the covers off of himself and hopped out of bed. He slowly opened up his bedroom door, poked his head out and saw Peyton reading in the living room. Just as he was about to step out of the bedroom to join her, Keith emerged from his own room and headed toward the living room and joined his mother on the couch._

_"Keith, what are you doing up?" Peyton asked as she placed "The Comet" down on her lap. "It's late; you should…be in bed."_

_"I can't sleep." Keith said as he snuggled up closer to his mother. _

_Peyton sighed and lovingly ran her left hand through her son's sandy blonde hair. "Neither can I."_

_"Is that why you're reading?" _

_Peyton nodded yes._

_Keith laid his head down on Peyton's shoulder and looked at the book lying on her lap. "Isn't that Dad's new book?"_

_Tears began welling up in Peyton's eyes. "Yeah, it is. I umm…just finished it."_

_"It doesn't have a happy ending does it?"_

_Peyton sniffed and slowly shook her head. "Actually it does. Your Dad he…he wrote a beautiful novel with a…really happy ending."_

_"If it has a happy ending then why are you so sad?" Keith asked looking up into his mother's green eyes._

_Peyton stared down at her son for a long while before finally telling him. "I don't know Keith. I…don't…know."_

_Mother and son sat together in silence for a couple of more minutes before a now very tired Keith got up from off the couch._

_He stretched and yawned. "I'm going to go to bed now."_

_Peyton sat up, gave her son a half-hearted smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight honey."_

_"Goodnight."_

_Julian watched Keith make his way back to his bedroom and then redirected his attention back onto Peyton._

_Peyton sat on the couch and stared aimlessly at the wall. She then picked up "The Comet" from off her lap, held it close to her chest and began sobbing uncontrollably._

_Julian slowly hook his head, closed his bedroom door and made his way back to bed._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Julian placed the photo back down on the end table and then picked up another one of Peyton with Beckah. He stared long and hard it before setting it back down.

Julian then made his way back over to the couch, sat down, put his head into his hands and started crying softly.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Charlotte__ – Peyton's Music Studio_

"Haley, are you sure you…want to do this today?" Mia asked. "I mean, I know we need to…go through Peyton's things but…we could hold off on it for a little while longer."

Haley sighed. "We could but…I…I really want do this now. It's been an awful day as you know and I just…really need to do something to keep myself occupied."

Mia nodded and began making her way over to a closet while Haley started to go through Peyton's desk.

"Haley, come here!" Mia shouted out from across the studio.

Haley hurried over to the closet and stared down at the opened trunk before Mia.

"Is this Peyton's wedding veil?" Mia said as she picked it up and stared at it in awe. "And there's a bunch of photo albums. Not to mention…"

Mia let her voice trail off as she picked up a copy of _An Unkindness of Ravens_ and a copy of _The Comet. _"Like a dozen copies of Lucas's books."

"You found the Lucas trunk." Haley told her as she reached in and picked up one of Peyton's sketches of her and Lucas.

Mia scratched her head in bewilderment. "Why in the world would she have something like this when—"

"She was just 'so in love with Julian' and planning to marry him?" Haley asked. "That's what I had wanted to know when I came across this myself back in November…just a couple of days before the Thanksgiving from hell…"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Charlotte__ – November 2016_

_"That was really good Mia." Peyton said smiling from her desk. "I love it. We definitely need to record that and put it on your next album."_

_"I think so too." Mia said as she hopped off her stool and went to place her guitar in its case._

_Peyton nodded and got up from her seat. "Okay, we'll do it when you get back from __New York__. Now you better get out of here before you miss your flight."_

_Mia walked up to Peyton and gave her a hug. "I'll talk to you later."_

_The brunette then picked up her guitar case and headed out of the studio._

_Peyton sat back down and began doing some work on her laptop. A few minutes later she heard her studio door open. The blonde looked up and saw that it was Haley._

_"Hey, I didn't you'd be stopping today."_

_Haley walked over to Peyton's desk and placed a CD on it. "Well I was in town for this teacher's conference and I got this demo yesterday from a group called Sugar & Spite and I really wanted you to hear them so…I thought I'd pay you a little visit and drop this off to you."_

_Peyton picked up the CD and placed it in her laptop._

_She listened to the first two tracks and then ejected the CD from her computer._

_"So what do you think?" Haley asked. "They're great, right?"_

_"They're amazing!" Peyton said excitedly. "Do you have their contact information?"_

_Haley reached inside her purse, pulled out a sheet a paper with the band's information on it and handed it to Peyton. "Here it is."_

_"Great, I'll call them up as soon as I'm finished checking my email."_

_"Sounds good." Haley said as she checked the time on her cell. "OK, I better get back to Tree Hill or else I'm going to be late for Jamie's basketball game."_

_Peyton nodded. "Alright, call me—wait, I have something for you."_

_Peyton got up from her seat and headed toward a closet. She motioned for Haley to join her._

_"I was at Wal-mart with Keith the other day and I bought him and Beckah the new Rock Band game and I know how much Jamie likes Rock Band so I picked up one for him too."_

_"That was sweet of you." Haley said as she joined Peyton._

_Peyton began rummaging through some boxes. "I know put it in here somewhere. But Mia was in here looking for something earlier and it looks like she moved everything around."_

_Haley bent down and helped the blonde look around._

_Peyton got up on her tip toes and searched on top of a shelf while Haley looked around on the floor._

_Haley noticed a trunk in the corner, opened it up and looked inside. _

_The blonde pulled the game out from a small box on the shelf and smiled. "Here it is! I knew—"_

_"Peyton, what is this?" _

_The blonde looked down and noticed the opened trunk, but said nothing. _

_Haley picked up a wedding veil and a gold locket. "This is your veil from your wedding to Lucas. And this is the locket he gave you on your first anniversary."_

_She continued sifting through the trunk and noticed a bunch of Peyton's old drawings of her and Lucas, a dozen or so copies of his books, and a couple of different photo albums. She then looked up at Peyton. "Why do you have all of these things?"_

_Peyton took the veil and locket out of her hands, placed them back in the trunk and shut it. "Because."_

_"Because why?"_

_Peyton sighed. "Because…because I do. Just…drop it, okay?"_

_"You're not willing to part with any of these things because you still love Lucas, don't you?"_

_Peyton began fiddling around with her necklace. "I…It's just…"_

_Haley sighed. "Look Peyton, you and I both know that you wouldn't be keeping all of these things…here at your studio AWAY from Julian…if they didn't mean something to you. If Lucas doesn't still mean something to you."_

_"Lucas is the father of my children so I'm always going to care about him." Peyton said honestly. "But I…I'm getting married to Julian and that's because I LOVE him."_

_"You shouldn't have said yes to Julian." Haley told her honestly. "Because while you might love him, you don't love him like you love Lucas and you never will." _

_"Haley—"_

_"Look me in my eyes and tell me that I'm wrong."_

_Peyton stared long and hard at Haley and fixed her mouth to speak, but no words came out._

_Haley nodded her head. "You can't. And that's because you know I'm right."_

_Peyton continued to stare at Haley for a long while before handing her the game. "You better get going or you're going to be late for Jamie's basketball game."_

_Peyton then shut the closet, walked back over to her desk, sat down and began diligently typing away at her computer._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So Peyton still loved Lucas?"

Haley nodded her head. "Yeah and…he still loved her."

Mia placed the veil and books back in the trunk and closed it. "He didn't kill her did he?"

Haley slowly shook her head. "No."

Mia nodded and she was curious to know if Haley knew who did and why Lucas was lying, but decided against asking. "We should…get back to cleaning this place out."

Haley nodded and the two began sifting through the closet in silence.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Reunion__…_

_Lucas slammed the confessional door shut and started off down the hall. He turned the corner and just as he had reached the exit doors he heard someone shout to him._

_"Lucas, wait!"_

_He stopped abruptly, turned around and saw Peyton heading in his direction._

_Peyton slowly made her way over to Lucas. She stared deeply into his blue eyes for a long while before finally asking. "Y—you…you would really rather live the rest of your life alone than be with anyone other than me?"_

_Lucas slowly nodded. "Yes."_

_Tears began welling up in Peyton's eyes. "The exact phrase that you whispered in my ear…that was a line from 'The Comet.'"_

_Lucas nodded. "It was."_

_The two stared at each other for a long while before Lucas finally sighed and turned to head out, but Peyton put her hand on his and stopped him._

_He looked up at her and the two locked eyes. _

_"Back in the confessional…I told you I didn't want you. But that was only because I couldn't look you in the eyes and tell you that I wasn't still in love with you. And that's because I am. I'm still in love with you Lucas. I always have been and I always will be."_

_Lucas fixed his mouth to respond, but she kept on talking._

_"If I wasn't I wouldn't cry every time I read 'The Comet.' I wouldn't have bought a dozen copies of that and 'An Unkindness of Ravens' and keep them locked away in a trunk with our wedding album, my veil, old drawings, my locket and all of the other things that remind me of you and what we had…what I wish we still had. What I hope we can have again."_

_She walked up closer to him. _

_"I do love Julian, but…not like I love you. I could never love anyone the way I love you and that's because the kind of love I have for you…it's the kind that only comes around once in a lifetime. That's why even though you hurt me…I shouldn't have given up on us. I should've held on tighter to what we had."_

_Lucas's eyes softened and he attempted to say something, but Peyton motioned for him to let her continue._

_"You're the only one I want lying beside me at night. You're the only one I want to lean on when times get rough. You're the only one I want standing next to me when all of my dreams come true and you're the only one I want standing next to me when they don't. No one could ever take your place in my heart and I know that no one could ever take my place in your heart and that's because you and me…"_

_She let her voice trail off and she leaned her lips into his and kissed him. "We belong together." _

_Tears of joy filled Lucas's as he nodded his head. "We do belong together."_

_He took his thumbs and wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face. "I love you Peyton."_

_Peyton sniffled and smiled. "I love you too."_

_Lucas grinned and he picked Peyton up and spun her around in excitement. As Lucas spun her around, Peyton saw something black sticking out of his pants pocket. She reached over to his pocket and pulled out her panties._

_"You found them!" _

_Lucas chuckled as he set Peyton down. "Yeah I found them. It took me a while…but I did find them."_

_Peyton shook her head and giggled. She then put her arms around Lucas and the two locked lips._

_After a long while, they finally broke away._

_"Let's get out of here." _

_Peyton raised an eyebrow. "And go where and do what?"_

_Lucas laughed. "My house, but not to…you know. I mean…we could later but I was really hoping that…"_

_He let his voice trail off and he took a minute to collect his thoughts before continuing. "I know it's getting kind of late but since this seems to be a night of reconciliation I was hoping that together we could talk to Beckah. I have a feeling that tonight is the night we can…really make things right with her."_

_Peyton nodded her head in agreement. "So do I." _

_"So let's go do it." Lucas said as he took Peyton's left hand into his. "Let's go fix our daughter's broken heart."_

_Peyton nodded and the two then headed off outside together, hand in hand._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Peyton, Keith, Beckah and I…we…were all going to be together." Lucas said in between sobs. "We were all…s—supposed to live HAPPILY ever after..."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is. I hope you all liked it! So…this chapter was filled with flashbacks, but I still think it's an important one. Through Lucas's first flashbacks you all got to see just how much him and Peyton loved each other and how happy they were before the whole Lindsey thing went down. Through Julian and Haley's reflections you all saw that Peyton still really loved Lucas and it appears they both knew it. Maybe that's why Julian wanted to move to Australia and did what he did to Beckah? You also all learned that at the reunion, right after Lucas whispered that passage from "The Comet" Peyton went running after him and spilled her heart out to him. The two then reconciled and left the reunion together to go back to Lucas's so that together they could talk to Beckah. So obviously Beckah was not at Karen's like Moore thought she was. Maybe Keith really was, but Beckah was most certainly not. So what do you think happened when Lucas and Peyton got to the house? Did they talk to Beckah? What the heck do you think ended up happening and how do Nathan, Haley and Brooke fit in to all of this? They were found at the house so they all went over there for some reason. Anyways…I hope you liked it and I really hope you guys will review considering I took time out of my very busy schedule to write an update! Ok…so since I suck at giving accurate chapter previews I will instead do teasers of things that WILL happen eventually…not necessarily in the next chapter, but soon…**

**Julian is interrogated**

**Peyton's dove necklace goes missing. Someone takes it while Haley isn't looking and the culprit might surprise you**

**"Why am I the ONLY one that can see you?!"**

**"I still hate you! And I will always hate you!"**


	18. Oh Mother

**Oh Mother **

A/N: Here's another update. I think I might switch back to writing one of my other fics after this one though. I think this is my favorite fic to write but I want to try and update the one I think is most popular and I'm not entirely sure that this one is it. But anyways…I hope you all like this chapter! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Peyton smiled as she stood in Nathan and Haley's bedroom, watching the couple sleep. She then slowly made her way over to Haley's jewelry box on her nightstand and pulled out her dove necklace.

Peyton held the necklace up and examined it.

She then placed it close to her heart and stared down at a sleeping Haley. "Thank you for keeping this safe for me."

Peyton stepped away from the bed and then vanished into thin air.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_The next morning…_

"So tell me Mr. Baker…" Moore began as he took a seat at the interrogation table across from Julian. "How did it start?"

"I never touched Beckah." Julian said coldly. "I would never, ever inappropriately lay my hands on the little girl that I love like a DAUGHTER. I would never."

Moore nodded. "If what you're telling me is true, then why not take a polygraph test?"

"Because it's been proven that those tests are not 100% accurate." Julian snapped.

Moore nodded. "So they say."

He got up from out his chair and began pacing around the interrogation room. "You say you love Beckah like a daughter but, she wasn't YOUR daughter."

He paused momentarily before continuing. "So when you needed someone to help you fulfill your twisted sexual desires and needed somebody to take out some sort of pint up frustration, you molested Beckah because at the end of the day she wasn't YOUR daughter and because Beckah wasn't you could give two shits about her well-being, am I right?!"

Julian remained silent and let his mind drift back…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_October 2016 – Charlotte_

_"Peyton it's time."_

_The blonde took in a deep breath, made her way over to the bathroom sink, closed her eyes, picked up the pregnancy test and handed it over to Haley. "I can't read it you do it."_

_Haley took the test from Peyton and read the results aloud. "It's negative."_

_Peyton ripped the test from Haley's hands and looked for her self. She then sighed in relief. "Thank God."_

_Just as Haley fixed her lips to respond, she noticed Julian standing outside the bathroom doorway. _

_"What are you two doing?" Julian asked curiously._

_Peyton cringed as she turned around and faced her fiancé. "I didn't hear you come in…the house. W—when did you get back?"_

_"A few minutes ago." Julian said as he looked down at the test in her hands. "Is that what I think it is?"_

_Haley looked back and forth between Peyton and Julian. "I think I should…probably get going." The brunette exited the bathroom, brushed passed Julian, made her way to the front door and exited the house._

_Julian entered into the bathroom took the test from Peyton's hand and stared down at it. "So you're not pregnant."_

_Peyton shook her head. "No."_

_"And you didn't want to be, did you?"_

_Peyton sighed. "Julian—"_

_"Or else you wouldn't have been so relieved about finding out that you aren't." Julian said cutting her off._

_"You heard me say thank God, didn't you?" Peyton asked._

_Julian nodded. "Yeah."_

_Peyton took the test from Julian, placed it down on the sink, exited the bathroom and motioned for Julian to follow her. The two made their way into the kitchen and sat down at the table._

_The two sat together in silence for a long while before Peyton finally spoke up. "Julian I…I—"_

_"Why wouldn't you want to have a baby with me?" He asked. "I mean, you love me right?"_

_Peyton nodded. "You…you know that I do."_

_"Then what's the problem?!"_

_Peyton got up from her chair and began pacing around the kitchen for a long while before stopping and staring into Julian's eyes. "Let me ask you something. What were you doing when you were say…22?"_

_Julian eyed her curiously. "Peyton, what does—"_

_"Just answer the question." She said interrupting._

_Julian sighed. "I don't know. I…I spent a lot of time working on music. I made a couple of short films…spent a lot of time going out and getting…hammered with my college buddies."_

_Peyton nodded. "Well I had Keith when I was 20. I had Beckah when I was 21. So what was I doing when I was 22? I was at home taking care of two babies."_

_"What exactly are you trying to say?"_

_Peyton sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that…because I had my kids when I was so young I…I never got the chance to be…selfish or reckless or to do the things that I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do them."_

_The blonde paused for a moment, took in a deep breath and then continued. "I love Keith and Beckah so much and I don't at all regret having them. They are my everything and I can't imagine a life without them in it. But Keith he…he's in the first grade now and Beckah has started kindergarten this year and for the first time both of my kids are at that age where…they don't need me 24/7. And because they don't need me as much I've been able to devote more time to my work. I've gotten to spend more time trying to find new talent for my label. I can now regularly participate in the producing of new albums for Mia and my other artists and it feels really good to be able to do all of those things."_

_Peyton stopped talking and took a seat back down at the table. "Julian I love being a mother, but there's so much more to me than that. I…I love making music too. It's my passion and I don't want to give that up. I want to spend some time focusing on my career and I can't do that, at least not the way I would like to, if I were to have a baby right now."_

_"So not now, but in the future…" _

_"Possibly. We'll…see."_

_Julian slowly nodded his head and muttered underneath his breath. "Not now and not ever."_

_Peyton checked the time on her cell. "It's almost 2:30. I…I have to go pick up Keith from school, take him to karate and meet Mia back at the studio."_

_She hopped out of her chair and grabbed her purse from off the kitchen counter. "Beckah's getting a ride home from school with her little friend Emily. She'll be here any second. Can you make sure she eats the snack I left out for her and if I'm not back by five—"_

_"I will start dinner." Julian said interrupting._

_Peyton kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." She then headed out of the kitchen and exited the house._

_A few minutes later Beckah came running into the house and into the kitchen. "Hi Julian!"_

_Julian got up from his seat and smiled down at the little girl. "Hey Beckah, how was school today?"_

_"Good." Beckah said as she dropped her backpack on the floor and sat down at the table. "Where's Mommy?"_

_"She's taking your brother to karate and then heading over to the studio." Julian said as he made his way over to the refrigerator._

_Beckah nodded. She then made a face and pointed to a plate of celery on the table. "Is that my snack?"_

_"It could be." Julian said as he finished grabbing some things from the fridge and began sifting through the freezer. "Or…I could make you a sundae."_

_He grabbed a container of vanilla ice cream and placed that, along with a can of whip cream, chocolate syrup and a jar of cherries, on the table._

_Beckah grinned. "Yes! I love sundaes!"_

_"I know you do and that's why I'm making you one." Julian said as he grabbed a spoon and headed toward the cabinets and grabbed a bowl. He then headed over to the table and began fixing her a sundae. "But you can't tell your mother. She wouldn't be too happy if she knew I made you one."_

_"I won't tell." Beckah said as she picked up the spoon and watched Julian pour the syrup over the ice cream. _

_"You promise?" Julian asked as he waved a cherry in front of Beckah. _

_Beckah nodded. "Yes! Now drop that cherry!"_

_Julian dropped the cherry on the sundae and Beckah dug in._

_"How is it?" He asked the little girl._

_Beckah nodded. "Really good! Thanks for making it for me."_

_"Oh you're very welcome." Julian said as he watched her eat her sundae. "But remember—"_

_"I can't tell mommy." Beckah said in between bites. "You don't have to worry. I'm the best at keeping secrets."_

_He made his way over to the little girl, bent down to her eyelevel and began stroking her long, wavy blonde hair. "That's good to know Beckah. That's good to know."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"AM I RIGHT?!"

Moore's screaming caused Julian to snap back to present. "No…I said it before and I'll say it again. I…I never touched her."

"So the brother, Keith…he's lying?" Moore asked.

"Yes he's lying."

"And why would he lie?" Moore asked raising an eyebrow.

Julian threw his arms up into the air. "BECAUSE HE HATES ME! HE'S HATED ME FOR MONTHS NOW AND WILL DO WHATEVER HE CAN TO MAKE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL!"

"And why does Keith hate you?"

Julian sighed. "It's…a long, complicated story that doesn't have anything to do with Beckah; one that I'm not going to get into."

Just as Moore fixed his lips to respond, the interrogation room door flung open and a heated looking attorney stood grilling the detective. "Julian, stop talking. This little session is over!"

The young man made his way over to Moore. "You've got a lot of nerve holding him in this interrogation room for all of these hours… questioning him while you attempt to find proof of an alleged molestation."

"Brian—"

"Do you…at this point in time have enough evidence to arrest my client for molesting Rebecca Scott?"

Moore sighed. "No."

"That's what I thought." Brian said shaking his head in agitation. He looked over at his client. "Julian, you're free to go."

Julian looked back and forth between Moore and his attorney before eventually getting up and heading out of the room.

"Watch yourself Moore." Brian said as he followed Julian, exited out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Moore shook his head and slammed his fist onto the table. "Dammit! I pray to God that Liz can get that little girl to open up so we can nail the bastard!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Haley, Nathan…this is our resident child psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Hayes." Riley told the couple. "She's going to be the one evaluating Beckah."

"Thank you for bringing your niece in on such short notice." Dr. Hayes told the couple.

Haley nodded. "So…how is this going to work? W—what's going to happen?"

"Well I hear that Beckah has been through a lot lately and hasn't been talking, am I right?"

Nathan sighed. "Right."

Dr. Hayes nodded. "Because she's not talking I thought it would be best to evaluate Beckah by watching her play. I have a playroom set up around the corner….where she's waiting for me now. I'm going to spend some time in there with her and you along with Riley will be able to observe the entire session through a two way mirror. You'll also be able to hear everything that's being said."

Dr. Hayes motioned for Haley, Nathan and Riley to follow her and the four made their over to the playroom.

"I must warn you that this…could potentially get a little intense and it might be hard to watch but—"

"We understand." Nathan said interrupting. "Do…what you have to do."

Dr. Hayes nodded. She then entered into the playroom, closed the door behind her and walked over to Beckah who was sitting down on a stool in front of a drawing board.

Dr. Hayes smiled at Beckah and picked up a paint palette from off a near by table. "I hear that you are quite the little artist. Would you like to do some painting?"

Beckah stared long and hard at the palette and let her mind wander…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_March 2016 – __Charlotte_

_"What are you painting Beckah?" Peyton asked as she looked over at her daughter's work._

_"The sky." Beckah respond as she cleaned off her brush and dipped it into the white paint. She then titled her head and examined her work. "What are you painting?"_

_"The ocean." Peyton told her daughter as she dipped her brush in some blue paint._

_Beckah looked over at her mother's work. "That's really pretty mommy."_

_"It's alright." Peyton said as she set her brush down on the palette and looked over her painting. "But I'm much better at drawing. However you my dear…"_

_Peyton got up from her seat and looked closer at Beckah's painting. "You are a brilliant painter. That is the best painting of a sky that I have ever seen."_

_Beckah looked up at her mother. "Really?"_

_Peyton kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Really!"_

_Beckah smiled proudly and as she hastily dipped her brush into some more white paint, she accidentally nailed Peyton in the face with her brush, getting paint all over her nose._

_Beckah's eyes widened and the little girl chuckled out an apology. "I didn't mean to…get paint on you Mommy. I…I'm...sorry."_

_Peyton nodded. "It's okay Beckah." She then reached her brush into some red paint and smeared her brush on her all over her daughter's cheeks._

_Beckah dropped her jaw in shock. "Mommy!"_

_Peyton laughed. "I'm sorry Beckah. Really…it was an accident."_

_Beckah nodded and placed her brush down on the palette. She then hopped off of her chair and grabbed a bottle of green paint from off the floor. She opened it up and squirted all over her mother's shirt._

_Peyton stared down at her shirt and then back up at Beckah. "Oh, it's on!"_

_Peyton grabbed a bottle of yellow paint and began chasing Beckah around the room. _

_A little while later mother and daughter lied on the floor together, laughing and covered head to toe in paint._

_Beckah looked over at her mother. "I'm lucky to have a Mommy as cool as you."_

_Peyton grinned and pulled Beckah over to her and hugged her tightly. "Not as lucky as I am to have a daughter as cool as you!"_

_Beckah smiled. "I love you."_

_"I love you too honey. I love you so much…"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beckah immediately hopped out of her chair and began walking around the room. She walked passed a toy oven and once again her mind wander…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_April 2016 – __Charlotte_

_"Mommy!" Beckah shouted out from her seat at the kitchen table. "The big hand is on the 6 so that means my cookies are ready, right?!"_

_Peyton entered into the kitchen, smiled down at her little girl and nodded. "Right!"_

_She then grabbed and oven mitt, headed over to the oven, removed the tray of chocolate chip cookies and placed them on top of the stove._

_"How long do we have to wait for them to cool?" Beckah asked._

_"Not long…a couple of minutes."_

_Just then the two heard a knock on the kitchen door and Mia entered. "Hey Peyton, I was in the neighborhood so I thought that I would stop by and drop off…"_

_Mia let her voice trail off as she sniffed the air. "Do I smell chocolate chip cookies?"_

_Beckah nodded. "Yup! I just made some!"_

_"Is that so?"_

_The little girl nodded. "Yeah, you can have some if you want. We just have to wait until their done cooling."_

_The young brunette nodded her head and took a seat next to Beckah at the kitchen table. _

_"They're probably okay now." Peyton said as she grabbed a spatula from a drawer and began lifting the cookies from off the tray. She then placed them on a pate, set them down on the table and took a seat next to Beckah._

_Mia immediately picked one up and bit into it. She then quickly spit it out._

_"What's wrong Mia?" the little girl asked. "You don't like them?"_

_Mia set the rest of her cookie down. "It's not that I don't like it. It's just…"_

_"It's just what?"_

_"They're…kinda salty." Mia told her. "How much salt did you put in them Beckah?"_

_"Just a pinch."_

_Mia raised an eyebrow. "How much is a pinch?"_

_Beckah hopped out of her seat, grabbed the salt from the counter and poured a huge handful into Mia's hands. "That's a pinch!"_

_Mia nodded. "I see."_

_Beckah set the salt down on the table, grabbed a cookie and handed one to her mother. "Do you think my cookies are salty Mommy?"_

_Peyton popped the cookie into her mouth and motioned for her daughter to sit down on her lap._

_"Well are they?" the little girl asked._

_Peyton nodded. "A little. But I happen to LOVE salty cookies and your cookies my dear…they're the best I've ever tasted!"_

_Beckah grinned, took a cookie from the plate and bit into one. "I think so too." She said while chewing._

_Peyton smiled down at Beckah and hugged her little girl closely._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beckah stepped away from the oven and walked over to a table, where she saw an open book. She stared long and hard at a picture of a little girl splashing around in a pool with her friends and once again her mind started to drift…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_June 2016 – Key West_

_"Beckah's chicken!"_

_"I am not!" the little blonde shouted out at Keith._

_"Then why don't you jump in?" He asked as he splashed around. _

_"Because."_

_"Because why?"_

_Beckah sighed. "Because I don't want to."_

_"It's because you're a scaredy cat!" Keith said laughing._

_Beckah gave her brother an evil glare, but wouldn't budge. _

_Peyton, who had been reading a magazine on a lounge chair near by, got up, placed her sunglasses and the magazine down on the chair and walked over to the edge of the pool where Beckah stood._

_She looked down at her daughter and took the little girl's hand into hers. "How about you and me jump in together?"_

_Beckah looked up at Peyton, then looked back at the pool, then up at her mother again. "I…I don't want to."_

_"But honey, you're such a good swimmer. And I know the water looks deep, but it's not much deeper than the pool at our house."_

_Beckah bit her lip. "I know, but—"_

_"I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you Beckah." Peyton said to her daughter. She then lifted up her hand. "I've got your hand and I'm not going to let go, okay?."_

_Beckah pondered for a long while before asking. "Promise you won't let go?"_

_"I promise."_

_Beckah nodded. "Okay, let's do it. On the count of three."_

_Peyton began counting out loud. "One…two….three!"_

_Peyton and Beckah both jumped into the pool together, making a huge splash into the water. They both went under together and then resurfaced to the top._

_"That was fun!" Beckah yelled out to her mother._

_"I knew you would think so." Peyton said as she took Beckah's other hand and began swimming around the deep in with her. _

_"Thanks for not letting go."_

_Peyton smiled and the two began splashing around together in the pool._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beckah stepped away from the table and ran over to an empty corner in the playroom. She sat down, began crying hysterically and started screaming out. "MOMMY'S DEAD! MOMMY'S DEAD!"

Dr. Hayes rushed over to the little girl. "Beckah, honey—"

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I—I DIDN'T MEAN…"

"You didn't mean what Beckah?"

"Mommy…she…she's dead because of me!" She told the psychiatrist. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

Dr. Hayes put an arm around the little girl in an effort to comfort her, but Beckah pushed her away.

"I WANT MY DADDY! I WANT MY DADDY!"

Haley, Nathan and Riley stood staring in absolute shock. Nathan began shaking his head and Haley put her face into her hands.

"What the HELL is she talking about?!"

Nathan, Haley and Riley all turned around at once and came face to face with Moore.

Haley sighed. "She…she…"

Moore looked over at Riley. "Let the little girl see her father! In person…without any screens or handcuffs! If anyone gives you a hard time about it, tell them it's a direct command from me!"

Riley nodded and hurried off down the hall.

Moore then focused his attention onto Nathan and Haley. "After Beckah sees Lucas him, Brooke Davis and you two are all going to join me in the interrogation room and ONE OF YOU WILL TELL ME WHY THAT LITTLE GRIL IS TALKING THE WAY SHE IS!"

Moore stormed off, leaving Nathan and Haley alone in the hall.

"We can't lie anymore Nathan. Beckah just confessed! There's…nothing we can say or do now."

"I know."

'What's going to happen to her?!" Haley asked, as she let the tears fall down at her face.

Nathan shook his head and sighed. "I don't Hales. I—I don't…know."

The two attempted to regain their composure and then headed into the playroom to try and comfort Beckah as best as they could.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Try not to think about what you're going to say to Moore." Riley told Lucas, as the two waited for Beckah in an empty interrogation room. "Just focus on your daughter."

Lucas wiped away a tear and nodded.

A few minutes later, two female guards entered into the room with Beckah.

"You have ten minutes." One of them told Lucas. They then exited the room, along with Riley.

Tears began welling up in Lucas's eyes as he stared long and hard at his little girl. He so desperately wanted to run up to her and hug her, but was unsure about how she would react to that so he instead knelt down to her eyelevel and tried to feel her out first.

Beckah stood in place for a long while before she slowly began making her way over to Lucas. She stopped and stared at him for a long while before running up to her father and hugging him tightly.

"Oh honey…" Lucas said as he hugged his little girl back. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry that I didn't protect you Beckah. I…I didn't know. I didn't know. God, I'm so…sorry."

A tear-eyed Beckah nodded and after a long while she finally broke away from her father's embrace. Her green eyes stared into Lucas's blue ones and very quietly she whispered out. "I love you."

Lucas's heart melted at his daughter's words and he immediately pulled her in for another hug. "I love you too Beckah. I love you more than you know."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you all liked it! So lots happened. It looks like ghost Peyton stole her necklace. What does she plan on doing with it? It looks like Julian isn't planning on confessing to molesting Beckah anytime soon. We learned a lot from that little scene though. Like how he wanted a baby with Peyton and she wasn't to keen on the idea of having another kid. So was Moore right? Did Julian just take out a lot of his built up frustration out regarding the baby situation and her maybe still having feelings for Lucas out on Beckah? Julian also revealed that him and Keith have been butting heads for a while. I wonder why that its. Beckah's play therapy was quite…dramatic, was it not? It was intended to see if she would open up about being molested but instead the playroom just caused her to think back to happy times that she had with her mother and she totally just lost it and cracked. Moore unfortunately sees the whole thing and is determined to figure out what really happened the night of Peyton's death. During her outburst, Beckah asked to see Lucas and her wish was granted and the two had a sweet little reunion and Beckah told Lucas that she loved him. That was pretty sweet, don't you think? So anyways…that is all. Oh...and sorry if there's a lot of grammar mistakes...I didn't really proof read this all that much. I'll check over it later and if there's a lot I'll fix them. Ok...please, please review!! I only have one more paper to write so who knows…there could be another update coming up soon…maybe…it all depends on how interested you guys are! In the meantime, here are some previews for things still to come…**

**The four sit down with Moore and Riley and tell them what happened the night Peyton was killed**

**Julian's fate will be revealed. Will he be charged with molesting Beckah?**


	19. Confessions, Part I

**Confessions, Part I**

A/N: Here's another update. I really did not want to rush writing this chapter because it's very important. Oh there's something you all need to know. In this chapter I've included a few flashbacks within a flashback. So I hope that doesn't confuse anyone. Anyways…I hope you all enjoy this chapter! – Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore shook his head in shock. "So you're telling me that…you and your ex-wife had sex in the backseat of her car at the reunion?"

Lucas wiped away a tear from his eye and slowly nodded. "Yeah."

Moore directed his attention to the other three. "You all don't seem that shocked by this revelation. That's because you knew about it, right?"

Brooke, Nathan and Haley all nodded their heads in unison.

"So in the confessional room…Lucas…you didn't whisper a threat to Peyton. You basically told her that you'd rather be alone than live without her, correct?"

"Yes." Lucas said sniffling.

"And she ran after you…spilled her heart out and the two of you…reconciled?"

Lucas nodded again. "We…w—we were going to be together."

Moore once again shook his head in shock. "So then you two left the reunion to go talk to Beckah?"

Lucas sighed. "Yeah but…not right away. Peyton she…said she needed to do something first."

"What?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"She was looking for Haley." Brooke said to the detective. "I ran into Peyton in the hallway so that's how I know."

She then turned her attention to Haley. "I think she was going to apologize to you, but she couldn't find you."

Moore refocused his attention onto Haley. "What were you doing?"

Haley sighed. "I…I was talking on the empty rooftop with Nathan…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Reunion__…_

_"What are you doing up here?"_

_Haley turned around and saw Nathan walking up to her from the stairs. "The same reason you are." She responded back._

_"To think and clear your head?" Nathan asked as he plopped down on a chair next to his wife_

_The brunette looked up at the nighttime stars and nodded. "Yeah."_

_"So what are you thinking about?"_

_Haley sighed. "How I'm a raging bitch."_

_"And why exactly are you a raising bitch?" Nathan asked raising an eyebrow. "Because you went and told Lucas and Peyton exactly what they needed to hear?"_

_Haley eyed her husband curiously. "How do you know—"_

_"Because unbeknown to all of you I was standing by the door and saw the little showdown…go down."_

_"I see." Haley said nodding her head. "So…you don't think I was wrong?"_

_Nathan shook his head. "No. Like I just said…it was exactly what they needed to hear."_

_"And why do you think that?"_

_"Because Peyton told me so…"_

_--------------------_

After fixing herself up in the bathroom as best she could a flustered Peyton quickly jetted out of the ladies room and nearly ran into Nathan as she did.

The two stood standing in place and staring at each other for a long while.

Nathan looked her up and down. "You had sex with Lucas didn't you?"

Peyton began stuttering. "W—what makes you…why…w—would…you—"

"Because it's quite obvious you just had sex with someone and I did see you and Lucas heading toward your car after that little shouting match the two of you had with Haley."

He paused for a minute and then continued. "I heard want she said to you and…she really had every right to say it. You know that she didn't mean to hurt Beckah's feelings so…you and Lucas really should forgive her."

"Forgiving…that's something easier said then done isn't it?"

Nathan stared long and hard into Peyton's eyes, but said nothing.

She sighed. "I…I know that what happened with Beckah was an accident and I've come to realize that…Haley didn't deserve to be treated the way that she did…"

Peyton took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and ran a hand through her messy locks. "And as much as it hurt for me to listen to Haley tear into me…what she said…it really was exactly what I needed to hear. She really opened my eyes and got me to see how awful I've been to a person who has done so much for me so much over the years. So….I plan on finding her later tonight to talk with her. And tell her I forgive her for the whole Beckah thing. And hopefully she can find it in her heart to forgive me for hurting her."

Nathan nodded his head slowly. "I think she'll be able to do that."

"I wish you could."

Nathan sighed. "Peyton—"

"I think about that drive every day Nathan." a teary-eyed Peyton said cutting him off. "I think about how…if I had just let you call Haley to come and get us…you w—would still h—have your…leg right now and…"

She let her voice trail off for a moment before continuing. "I'm sorry Nathan. I'm so sorry for taking away your career…your dream. It hurts so much knowing that I did that to you and I…I wish everyday that it had been me who lost a leg instead of you."

Peyton wiped away a tear. "But it wasn't. And I can't take your place or undue what happened. All I can do is apologize, which I've done, and try and make up for all the pain I've caused you by…by making that new dream of yours come true."

Nathan eyed her curiously. "Peyton, what did you—"

"Follow me." Peyton said as she began making her way down the empty hallway and towards the door to the parking lot.

Peyton looked around outside and once she was sure that no one, especially Lucas, was in sight she motioned for Nathan to follow her to her car.

Nathan stood by the driver's side door while Peyton rummaged through her glove compartment. She quickly pulled out an envelope and shut the compartment back up.

She closed the car door, walked over to Nathan and handed it to him.

"What is this?"

"Right before the whole Beckah incident., Haley told me about what you wanted to do and…I think it's an…amazing idea and I really want to help you so…that envelope contains everything you need to help you in your new endeavor."

Nathan stared long and hard at the envelope in his hands. "Peyton, whatever is in here I…I can't accept it."

He handed it back to her.

Peyton sighed, opened up Nathan's coat, folded up the envelope and placed it inside a pocket. "You can…and you will."

The two stared at each other for a long while before Peyton finally spoke up. "Well umm…I think I'll go back inside now."

The blonde hurried off toward the reunion hall entrance, leaving Nathan alone in the parking lot…deep in thought.

_--------------------_

_"Have you opened up the envelope yet?" Haley asked inquisitively._

_Nathan shook his head. "No…it's still right here inside my jacket."_

_"Well why haven't you?"_

_He shrugged. "I don't know."_

_"Are you going to forgive Peyton for what happened and finally let everything go?"_

_Nathan thought long and hard before slowly nodding. "I suppose it's about time that I did. And I will. And it appears as though Peyton's ready to let go of all the animosity she's been holding against you too. I'm not sure where she is right now but…I'm sure she's going to try and find you."_

_Haley sniffled and nodded. "I'm glad. Hopefully we'll run into each other again before this reunion is over and…talk things out tonight…me, her and hopefully Lucas as well because…I've really, really missed my best friend too."_

_"I know you have." Nathan said as he intertwined his right hand with Haley's left one. "I know."_

_The two sat in silence, holding hands, for a long while before Nathan finally spoke up. "We haven't sat together like this in…I don't know how long."_

_"I know." Haley said as she laid her head down on his shoulder. It's nice."_

_Nathan nodded his head in agreement. "It is…"_

_He paused momentarily and looked down at his wife. "So…lets do this more often and…stop all the fighting because…"_

_Nathan once again paused, taking a minute to collect his thoughts, and then continued. "Because life is short, you know? All these talks I have had tonight about forgiving and my accident got me to thinking that one day…something even MORE devastating than what happened to me could happen to either one of us at any point in the future and...I…I d—don't want to ever look back and…think about all the time that we w—wasted fighting with each other about—"_

_"Nothing?" Haley asked, interrupting. "Because as of lately it feels like we do it…just for the sake of doing it."_

_"It does." Nathan said agreeing. "Now…I know it's unrealistic to think that we…could go through life without ever having another disagreement. Just so long as it's not about something stupid and that we make up before we go to bed because...I…I don't want to wake up one morning and find out that…something bad happened to you and have my last memory of us being one where we're fighting and falling asleep angry at each other. I…don't e—ever want us to go to bed mad at each other anymore. I really don't."_

_"I don't want that either." Haley said looking up at her husband. "So…let's promise not to. And let's really try to get back to the way things we're between us…before your accident, before the NBA…before all of it."_

_Nathan nodded his head and looked down at his wife. "I would like that."_

_She smiled softly, brought her free hand to Nathan's face, and the two of them leaned in and kissed._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So…that's where I was the latter half of the night." a solemn looking Haley said to the detective.

Moore stared at her for a long while before redirecting his attention back to Brooke. "When Peyton…ran into you in the hallway, did you actually talk to her?"

Brooke thought long and hard before answering. "I w—wish I had…I really wish I h—had…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Brooke sat on the floor of the empty hallway, admiring the yellow rose in her hand._

_She sniffed it, smiled softly and let her mind drift…_

_--------------------_

"Here you are."

Brooke stared down at a tequila shot and yellow rose placed before her by the bartender. She looked up at him and shook her head. "Not interested."

The bartender held up his left hand and revealed a band on his finger. "I'm not either. You just really look like you need a shot."

"And the rose?"

"Is not from me." the bartender told her. "I was just told to give it to you."

A now flustered Brooke picked up the rose and began stuttering. "S—someone asked…y—you to…give me….t—this yellow…rose? W—who was it?"

He shook his head. "They didn't want me to say."

A teary-eyed Brooke began to plead. "P—please…will you tell me? I…I r—really…really…n—need to know. It's…important that…I know."

The bartender sighed and pointed across the crowded reunion hall room to a figure heading out toward the bathroom area. "It was her."

Brooke turned around and gasped. "Haley?"

The brunette grabbed the rose, hopped off her stool at the bar and ran as fast as she could to try and catch up with Haley.

"Haley! Wait!"

Haley stopped moving and turned around. "Brooke…what—"

"It's you." Brooke said as she let the tears fall down her face. "The yellow rose."

Haley sighed. "The bartender told you it was—"

"Yes." Brooke said cutting her off. "But I'm…not talking about this yellow rose. Y—you're the one who…every year…always leaves a…yellow rose on Chase's grave, aren't you?"

Haley stared long and hard into Brooke's tear stricken brown eyes before slowly nodding. "Yes. Every year…on the anniversary of his death…I…I fly out to New York…talk to Chase and leave a yellow rose on his grave. Then I…I wait all day…for you to come and then I watch you. I watch to…m—make sure that you're okay."

Brooke sniffled and wiped her eyes. "W—why a yellow rose?"

Haley began to grow teary-eyed herself. "Because once…when I was feeling…really down a certain someone gave me one…a yellow rose that would 'help brighten up your day and—'"

"'Wipe all the sorrows away.'" Brooke said interrupting.

Haley nodded. "Chase…was a good friend and I felt…s—so incredibly bad about…missing his funeral. For not being there to remember and honor such a noble guy and…for n—not…being there…to s—support my friend…the girl I know he loved more than…ANYTHING and ANYONE."

Tears began to pour down Brooke's face. "Oh Haley…" She then went and engulfed Haley in a hug.

"I…I really am…s—sorry." Haley stuttered out. "I'm so…sorry."

"I know that you are." a teary-eyed Brooke whispered into her.

She then released Haley from her arms and stared into her eyes. She took her thumb, wiped away a tear from Haley's face, gave her a small smile and then hugged her again.

_--------------------_

_Brooke continued to stare at the flower but her thoughts were soon interrupted by shouts coming from down the hall._

_"Haley!"_

_Brooke looked up to see Peyton looking around at the end of the hallway._

_Just then the blonde looked toward the direction that Brooke was sitting. She squinted, saw who it was and immediately ran over to her._

_Before Peyton could say anything Brooke started rambling. "Peyton, I know you're probably really mad at me for setting you and—"_

_"Thank you." Peyton said interrupting her. She then went and hugged Brooke. "Thank you for…forcing me to open up my eyes and for…leading my heart back to where it belongs."_

_She then let go of Brooke and checked the time on her watch. "It's getting late and…Lucas and I…we were going to head out together. We have something we want to do. He's outside in his car waiting for me so umm…I'm going to have to get going I guess. But…we'll talk soon."_

_Peyton then hurried off down the hall and around the corner._

_A stunned, speechless Brooke stood in place for a long, long while. She then slapped herself in the face and pinched her arm._

_"Oh my God, I'm…not dreaming. Peyton…she was really just here in front of me. She…she…"_

_Brooke began running down the hall in the same direction that Peyton had and looked around for her but the blonde was no where in sight._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I just…stood there in shock at Peyton's words and…waited too late to go after her. She had left with Lucas…"

Moore turned his attention to Lucas. "Is that right?"

Lucas slowly nodded his head. "Yeah…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Lucas put the key into the ignition as he saw Peyton approaching the passenger's side._

_He opened up the door for her. "Did you take care of whatever it is you wanted to do?" _

_Peyton sighed. "Sort of. I mean, I know we said we would wait until tomorrow to talk with everyone but I…I really wanted to find—"_

_"Haley to…apologize. Nathan to…see where you stood after you gave him that mysterious envelope you won't tell me anything about and Brooke to..."_

_"Tell her that I don't hate her and to thank her…" Peyton said as she leaned in to Lucas and kissed him on the lips. "For helping to reunite me and you."_

_Lucas smiled softly and took his hand and stroked Peyton's cheek as she continued to talk._

_"I couldn't find Nathan and Haley and I KIND of talked to Brooke, but not really the way I wanted to because I knew you were waiting and…"_

_She let her voice trail off and took a minute to process her thoughts. "I suppose there's always tomorrow and tomorrow we will definitely talk to them all."_

_Lucas nodded. "That we will. But tonight…let's go back to the house, talk with Beckah and then you and me…"_

_He leaned his lips in to hers and kissed her passionately. "We can make up for lost time."_

_Peyton smiled. "I'd like that."_

_Lucas grinned, started up the car and the two then drove off._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So Lucas…you and Peyton…went to your house to talk with Beckah and to—"

"Yeah." Lucas said cutting him off.

Moore nodded. "So Keith and Beckah weren't really at your mother's all night then?"

Lucas sighed. "Keith…Keith really was at my mom's. But Beckah wasn't."

"Why weren't they together?" Moore asked curiously.

"My mom took him and my little sister out for the night…pizza, movie, roller-skating. Beckah she…was just getting over this intense 48-hour stomach bug thing and didn't want to go so…I called Maya and—"

"She's your babysitter/quasi-nanny right?" Riley asked, interjecting.

"Yes." Lucas said sniffling. "She watched Beckah for me that night. Until Peyton and I got home of course. Then I…gave Maya the rest of the…n—night off."

Moore nodded. "I'm assuming you and Peyton…never talked to Beckah, did you?"

Lucas let the tears that had been welling up in his eyes fall. "No we…we did…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Do you think she's sleeping?" Peyton whispered as her and Lucas headed upstairs._

_Lucas shook his head. "No I think I see her bedroom light on."_

_Once Lucas and Peyton reached Beckah's bedroom, they saw that her light was indeed on._

_Lucas took in a deep breath. "You ready to try again?"_

_Peyton nodded. "Yes. Let's do it."_

_Lucas gently knocked on Beckah's cracked door and slowly opened it up. "Beckah…"_

_At the sound of her father's voice Beckah, who had been sitting up drawing in bed on her sketchpad, looked up at Lucas and Peyton, but remained silent._

_The two exchanged looks and then made their way over to Beckah._

_Lucas plopped down in a chair next to the bed while Peyton sat down on top of it._

_"I've missed you so much these past two weeks." Peyton said as she placed her hand on top of her daughter's. "Have you been having a good time here in Tree Hill visiting with Grandma, Lily and everyone?"_

_Beckah removed her left hand from underneath her mother's and said nothing. _

_Peyton sighed and then glanced over at Lucas. _

_Lucas reached out to Beckah, but she swatted his hand away from her, placed her sketchpad and pencil on her nightstand, snuggled up underneath her blankets and turned her back to them._

_He heaved a heavy sigh and looked at Peyton._

_The two sat together for a long while in silence before Peyton finally broke it. "It's…because of the way you twitch your nose like a little bunny whenever you smell something you don't like."_

_Lucas eyed Peyton curiously, but remained quiet._

_She spoke again. "Because instead of killing spiders or any other creepy crawlers you let them free outside."_

_It suddenly became clear to Lucas what Peyton was doing and he joined in. "Because…when you see someone trip, although you'll probably laugh at them at first, you're always the first one to reach out a hand to help them up."_

_Beckah stirred, but did not turn around._

_Peyton took in a deep breath and added another one. "Because even though you'd rather have your hair short, you're growing it out so you can donate it to locks of love."_

_"Because of the cute little way you pout your lips when you don't get your way and because…like your mother…you're an amazing artist."_

_Peyton smiled softly at Lucas and then redirected her attention to Beckah. "Because…you convinced your Daddy and I to rescue our dogs from a shelter instead of buying them from a pet store."_

_Lucas leaned in closer to his daughter and spoke. "Because…you promised Keith that you would always be there to help him if he ever needed you to."_

_Peyton inched closer to her as well and said to her. "Beckah…we love you for all those reasons and many more. We love you…for being YOU. We have since the moment we first laid our eyes on you and we always will. There is NOTHING that you could ever say, do, be or confess—"_

_"That would ever make us love you less." Lucas finished._

_The two stared at their daughter for a long while, waiting to see if she would respond but the little girl did not turn around to face her parents, remained silent and stared aimlessly at her bedroom wall._

_Lucas shook his head and sighed. He then watched a distraught Peyton try her best to keep her composure._

_She wiped away her tears, got up from off Beckah's bed, brushed some loose strains of hair from the little girl's cheek and kissed her. "G—goodnight sweetie."_

_Peyton then hurried out of the room._

_Lucas tried hard to blink back his own tears as he kissed his daughter goodnight, turned off her bedroom light and exited Beckah's room. He then made his way to the bathroom where he found a devastated Peyton sitting on the edge of the tub crying._

_He sat down beside her, put his arm around her and laid her head down on his shoulder._

_"I…I really t—thought that…t—tonight…would be…the n—night that we would be able to…get t—through to her." Peyton stuttered out to Lucas. "But it…d—doesn't look like w—we ever…will."_

_Peyton then buried her face into his chest and cried softly. Lucas held Peyton close to him; he gently stroked her hair and_ _let the tears that had been welling up in his own eyes fall._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moore closed his eyes and sighed. "So you and Peyton…weren't able to…get through to Beckah that night."

"No….w—we…didn't." Lucas told the detective in between sobs. "I w—wish we…h—had but…we didn't."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Okay so there it is! I hope you all liked this chapter! So let's see it looked toward the end of the reunion reconciliations were happening or on the verge of happening. Brooke and Haley made up and Nathan and Haley did as well. Now I just want to clarify something about those two. Nathan and Haley didn't really have a specific reason for being so angry at each other. Haley mentioned in a previous chapter…the Thanksgiving one…about how even though Nathan had made a lot of progress emotionally and physically and that the accident had happened a while ago that he could still get snappy and irritable with her at times and she didn't like it. Then the whole Beckah thing probably got to Haley…causing her to be upset so…it's like Nathan said…they had just been fighting all the time…so much so that sometimes they would just do it for the sake of doing it. For no reason whatsoever. But they decided that needed to end and that they were really going to try to work things out for real this time. We also saw Peyton give Nathan the envelope and put it inside his jacket. He didn't open it up but it was clear that he seemed ready to forgive Peyton and planned on doing so. Oh…and we saw Peyton thanking Brooke for setting her and Lucas up, but she splits…as its getting late and Lucas is waiting for her…before a stunned Brooke snaps into reality and realizes that Peyton was indeed in front of her and that she wasn't hallucinating. So those two didn't really get to have a proper talk. Peyton and Lucas both wanted to really talk things out with everyone, but they figured that there was always tomorrow so they left for the night to go talk to Beckah and to spend some quality alone time together. Oh…and we learned that Keith was really at Karen's and wasn't home with Beckah that night. And so…Lucas and Peyton try getting through to Beckah…and instead of just telling her that they love her Peyton starts giving her a list of reasons for why they do and Lucas joins in on it. They tell Beckah that they love her for being her and that there's nothing she could say, do, confess, or be that would make them love her less but…it doesn't seem to work. So…I've given you part one of the killing. What do you think will happen in part two? Let me know in a review! I greatly appreciate all of them! Anyways…until next time! – Jasmine**

**Teasers for things still to come…**

**"I killed Mommy. I…killed…her."**

**Julian…will either be charged or not charged.**

**"You're a little SHIT Keith, you know that?! It's quite obvious you take after that MURDEROUS grandfather of yours!"**

**"It is crucial that the press NEVER finds out that Beckah was in that house."**


	20. There Will Be Blood

**There Will Be Blood**

A/N: Sorry it's been so long!!! Really, I am! I had no intentions of going so long without updating this story! I was just so busy enjoying summer and then I got swamped with school work this past semester. But I'm back now and determined more than ever to finish this story…which will be coming to an end soon. Anyways, here's an EXTRA long chapter for you guys! And I'm not kidding…it's LONG! Probably the size of three of my normal chapters all instead lumped into one because 1.) I feel bad for not updating and 2.) I felt it necessary through a writing standpoint. Okay…so as the title suggest there will be blood. Lots of blood! Lol…I hope you all enjoy! - Jasmine

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Moore closed his eyes and sighed. "So you and Peyton…you didn't…get through to Beckah that night."

"No….w—we…didn't." Lucas told the detective in between sobs. "I w—wish we…h—had but…we didn't."

The interrogation room filled with silence and only after a long while did Moore speak again. "W—what happened next?"

Lucas wiped his eyes and sighed. "E—eventually… Peyton and I…we were able to regroup a bit and…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_It's really thundering and lightening out there." Lucas said as he stared out the kitchen window. "Do you think we should check on Beckah?"_

_Peyton slowly shook her head. "No. I'm sure she fell asleep not long after we left the room and…you know Beckah can sleep through anything so she's probably fine. It's best not to bother her."_

_Lucas took in a deep breath and asked Peyton the question that had been on his mind ever since they reconciled back at the reunion. "Peyton have you…thought about what happens next? What you're going to…tell Julian?"_

_Peyton sighed and looked down at her engagement ring. "As soon as he…gets back from his business party in Myrtle Beach tomorrow I'm…going to tell him that it's over. It's going to be hard because…he's a really great guy but…he's not MY really great guy. You are."_

_Lucas smiled softly as he reached across the table, took his hand into hers and kissed it. "And you're my one and only really great girl."_

_The two sat together in silence for a long while before Lucas got up from his seat at the kitchen table._

"_You hungry?" He asked as he headed toward his cabinets. "I can fix you some pasta."_

_Peyton smiled softly and ran a hand through her messy locks. "I'd like that."_

_Lucas nodded. "I just hope the power doesn't cut out while I—"_

_Just then the power shut off and the kitchen, as well as the entire house, went dark._

"_I totally just jinxed myself." Lucas said shaking his head. He momentarily left the kitchen and returned with two candles._

_He placed them on the kitchen table, grabbed a lighter from off the counter and lit them. "So since pasta is out of the question and because I'm almost certain that the power can't be out everywhere, how about we order a pizza?"_

_Peyton smiled softly. "Pizza will be fine."_

_Lucas nodded, exited the kitchen and headed toward his office to use the cord phone, but found that the storm had knocked out the phone line._

"_The phones aren't working." Lucas said as he reentered into the kitchen and sat back down at the table. "That's kind of weird. Phones usually always work…even in a storm."_

_Peyton nodded her head in agreement. "But we do have cells so…" _

_She let her voice trail off, picked up her cell from off the table and as she went to dial noticed it was dead._

"_I'll use mine." Lucas told her as he felt around in his pockets. "If I had it."_

"_Did you set it down somewhere?" Peyton asked as she got up and began looking around the kitchen. _

_Lucas shook his head no as he got up from his seat and patted himself in an attempt to find his cell, but to no avail. "No, I haven't seen it since…"_

"_Since?"_

"_Since right before Haley asked to speak with us at the bar. So I'm thinking I lost it somewhere in your car during our little…"_

"_Yeah probably." Peyton said as she looked out the window. "You know, the storm's letting up a bit. Why don't you take my keys and go get it so no one decides to break into my car and steal that pretty little iphone of yours that I'm sure you probably left lying in the backseat"_

_Lucas pondered momentarily before uneasily shaking his head. "No, that's ok. I don't want to leave you and Beckah here in this st—"_

"_But I told you it's letting up." Peyton said interrupting. "And you shouldn't be gone for more than what? 20 minutes? We'll be fine."_

"_I am expecting an important business call tomorrow." Lucas said thinking aloud. "And it would probably be smart to go get it considering that the house phone will more than likely not be working in the morning because Tree Hill is so ridiculously slow at turning the power and everything back on after storms." He sighed. "Maybe I should go."_

_He walked out of the kitchen and picked up his coat from off a chair in the next room. He returned to the kitchen, grabbed his and Peyton's keys from off the counter, and walked over to Peyton. "I'll be back soon."_

_Lucas caressed Peyton's face and then kissed her. "I love you, you know that?"_

_Peyton nodded and smirked. "Yeah and I…I kinda, sorta like you too."_

_Lucas playfully rolled his eyes and chuckled. He gave Peyton one more kiss, exited the kitchen, headed toward the front door and left the house._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So you left to get your phone?" Riley asked.

Lucas slowly nodded. "Y—yeah."

Moore sighed. "And that was…the last time you saw Peyton alive wasn't it?"

"Y—yes." Lucas said as the tears poured down his face. "I—I…left and I…I…"

Lucas let his voice trail off and he buried his face into his hands and began crying softly on the table in front of him.

Haley laid her head on Lucas' shoulder and wrapped her arms around him in an effort to comfort him while Brooke took over the telling of the story. "Lucas left his house, came back to the reunion and…ran into Haley and me in the parking lot…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Lucas pulled his car up next to Peyton's in the now nearly empty parking lot, hopped out of his and headed over to hers._

_He unlocked her car as quickly as he could, hopped in and began looking around for his iphone. After a few minutes he finally found it lying on the floor in the back._

_Lucas grabbed his phone, opened up the car door and as he stepped out he heard shouts. "Lucas, is that you?!"_

_Lucas looked up and saw Brooke and Haley standing by the door of the reunion hall. He quickly shut Peyton's car door and not having an umbrella ran as fast as he could over to the girls._

"_I thought you and Peyton left." Brooke said to him._

"_We did." Lucas said as he ran a hand through his wet hair. "But I…I came back to see if I had left my phone in her car. The…power is out back at my house and the phone's not working and I'm…expecting an important call in the morning so I wanted to make sure I had my cell just in case it's not fixed by then."_

"_And why would your phone be in Peyton's car?"_

_Lucas turned around and saw Nathan, who had just brought his suv around and parked it next to his brother's, walking towards the trio._

_Nathan stared at his brother for a long while before speaking again. "Well?" He asked chuckling, while both Brooke and Haley glanced over at each other and began laughing themselves._

_Lucas shook his head and rolled his eyes. "How in the world do you all know—"_

"_That you and Peyton did the dirty in that pretty little car of hers?" Haley asked interrupting. "Brooke totally caught you two in the act."_

_Lucas blushed and turned his attention to Brooke. "Y—you set Peyton and me up in the confessional room didn't you?"_

_Brooke slowly nodded. "I did."_

"_But why?"_

_Brooke thought long and hard before answering. "Because I know Peyton. And I know you and…I know that the two of you never would have done what you did if…there wasn't something still there between the two of you."_

_She paused for a moment and then continued. "So I…set up the little rendezvous in the confessional…hoping that the two of you would talk it out in there and admit your true feelings about each other, to each other."_

"_And you did that for Peyton?"_

_Brooke slowly nodded. "Yes, but…I did it for you too. Because even though I haven't acted like it…a part of me does and always will care about you…"_

_She then directed her attention to Haley and Nathan. "About ALL of you. If I didn't, I…I never would have come here tonight."_

"_Neither would I." Haley and Nathan said together in unison._

"_Same for me." Lucas said to the group. He then redirected his attention to Brooke. "Knowing that what I did broke your heart, broke my heart. It really did."_

"_I know." Brooke said nodding. "I think I've always known that but…I guess I was just too stubborn to admit that and let everything go. But I'm ready to do that now. I have missed everyone so much and…" _

_She walked up closer to Lucas and hugged him. "I'm ready to let it all go."_

"_So am I." He said, hugging her back._

_The two then broke apart and Lucas made his way over to Haley._

"_Your words earlier…they really got to me and Peyton and…finally made the both of us realize how…wrong we were to treat you the way we have been…over something that I know you didn't intentionally want to happen. Hales, you've been my best friend for as long as I can remember and I—I'm so sorry for treating you so badly these past few months and…if you're willing I'm ready to forgive and forget…let by gones be by gones and for our friendship to...hopefully return to the way it used to be?"_

_A teary-eyed Haley nodded. "Of course. That's…all I ever wanted." She then leaned in and hugged him tightly._

_After a long while the two best friends broke away from the embrace and Lucas redirected his attention onto his brother._

_The two stared at each other for a long while before Nathan finally spoke up. "Even though I was…pissed with Peyton I…I thought what you did …the whole Lindsey thing…was pretty messed up. Not just to her but your kids too and I…had lost a lot of respect for you."_

_Lucas slowly nodded his head in agreement. "I lost a lot of respect for myself too."_

_Nathan nodded. "Still, you're my brother and even though you do things I don't like or necessarily agree with doesn't mean I should've turned my back on you. I mean, you never did that to me and it was wrong for me to do that to you."_

_He paused momentarily, took in a deep breath and then continued. "I was starting to realize that but then the whole Thanksgiving spat you and Peyton had with Haley happened and…even though her and I weren't on the greatest of terms it really angered me to see you treat her the way you were."_

"_I can see why." Lucas said sighing. "I mean, it…really irked me seeing you treat Peyton so badly."_

"_I know." Nathan said agreeing. "The car accident was…just that. An accident. I always knew that I just…found it easier to cope by blaming someone else and it's no excuse—"_

"_It's not." Lucas said cutting him off. He glanced over at Haley for a second before redirecting his attention back onto his brother. "But I can understand that because I'm guilty of doing the same thing. I think everyone is at some point in their life."_

_Nathan slowly nodded and stood silently for a moment before speaking up. "I've really missed having you around man. Do you think we can…go back to being the brothers that we used to be? I know it's not going to happen overnight but--"_

"_In some time will happen." Lucas said interrupting. "And it's something that I would really like to happen."_

_The two gave each other small smiles and gave each other a quick manly hug._

"_I never thought this moment…when we all decide to…forgive each other and move forward would ever_

_happen." Brooke said, shaking her head in disbelief. "But it has. And it's almost perfect. The only thing_

_missing is…"_

"_Peyton." Lucas said, very quietly._

"_I heard she was looking for me." Haley said quietly. "God, I really want to talk to her."_

_Brooke cleared her throat and sighed. "After she…spilled her heart to me I…I just stood there…dumfounded. I didn't get the chance to say what I wanted to say to her. What I needed to say."_

"_Neither did I." Nathan added._

"_Why didn't she come back with you?" Haley asked, turning her attention to Lucas._

"_We sent the nanny home early." Lucas sighed, paused for a minute and then continued. "And someone _

_needed to stay with Beckah so…"_

_Lucas let his voice trail off for a moment before continuing. "I know that Peyton would really like to see each and every one of you so why don't you all come back to the house, talk and hang out like—"_

"_Like old times?" Haley asked, interrupting._

_Lucas nodded. "Like old times."_

_Nathan, Haley and Brooke all looked at each other and nodded their heads in concurrence._

"_Sounds good." Brooke said smiling. _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So what happened when the four of you reached the house?" Moore asked.

Brooke took in a deep breath and then started to continue on. "Well we—"

"We ran into my babysitter outside." Lucas said cutting her off. He sniffled and sat up. "She had…forgotten a book at the house that she…needed to have to study for some test so she had come back to the house to get it."

A teary-eyed Lucas paused for a moment and then pressed on. "As I…was about to put my key into the door to open it I realized it was unlocked so I…just p—pushed it open and t—that's…w—when I saw…Peyton…o—on the floor…in i—in the living room….d—dead and…all b—bloody. A—and…then I noticed Beckah sitting in…t—the corner…with this…c—catatonic look on her face …holding the gun in her hands…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_PEYTON!" Lucas cried out and ran over to her._

_Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Maya stood in absolute shock and devastation as Lucas bent down, took Peyton's lifeless body into his arms, cradled her and sobbed uncontrollably. _

_A hysterical Brooke ran over to Beckah, bent down to the little girl's eyelevel and asked through whimpers. "W—what…happened?!"_

_Beckah momentarily came out of her trance, stared into Brooke's brown eyes and said quietly. "It's all my fault. Mommy's dead because of me…" _

_A tear-stricken Lucas slowly redirected his attention from Peyton over to his young daughter. He stared long and hard at Beckah before finally carefully laying Peyton back down onto the blood stained living room carpet._

_Lucas then got up, rubbed his eyes, wiped his nose with his hand and walked over to Beckah and squatted down in front of her, beside Brooke. _

_He stared deeply into Beckah's eyes and, even though in a catatonic state, noticed the tears welling up in her eyes and watched as they slowly fell down onto her cheeks._

_Lucas remained still for a minute before reaching out toward Beckah. He then removed her death grip from the gun with his left hand as he held onto it with his right and slowly took the gun from his daughter's hands._

_Lucas then slowly stood up, looked over at the babysitter and said to her. "Maya…I…n—need you to…t—take Beckah upstairs…c—clean her up, change her and…h—hand me her clothes. When you finish I…n—need you to take her over to my mother's and tell her that…you were watching Beckah at your apartment and that s—something came up and that y—you couldn't watch her and that you tried but…c—couldn't reach me. Then I—I want you…to go home and f—forget what you saw."_

_A horrified Maya stood in place for a moment, still in shock, before nodding her head. She then rushed over to Beckah, picked her up and hurried out of the room and up the stairs._

_A teary-eyed Haley walked over to her best friend and asked in between sniffles. "Lucas…w—what are you doing?"_

_Lucas ignored her question and continued giving out orders. "I…I n—need the rest of you to help me…d—dig a ditch in the…b—backyard underneath the doghouse so I c—can…bury Beckah's clothes in it. Then I need you all…to leave."_

_Nathan sighed, rubbed his teary eyes and walked over to his brother. "Lucas, are you…t—trying to do…what I think you're trying to do?"_

"_P—protect my daughter?" Lucas asked as he hurried out of the room, headed for the nearby linen closet, grabbed a cloth and began wiping off the gun. "You're damn straight I am. I…I…w—will not have Beckah's…l—life be…ruined by…s—something I KNOW she…d—didn't mean to do. So I…I'm g—going to take the blame for this."_

"_N—no!" Haley screamed out as she, Nathan and Brooke followed after him. "Lucas, you can't do that!"_

"_I can and I will." Lucas stated simply, as he placed the cloth back into the closet, shut the door and then firmly placed his prints onto it._

"_No you won't!" Brooke said, ripping the gun from his hands. _

"_We're not going to let you do that!" Nathan said to his brother, taking the gun from Brooke. "There's no way we're going to let you confess to killing Peyton!"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The interrogation room filled with an uncomfortable silence for a long time as Lucas, Nathan, Haley and Brooke sat quietly while Moore and Riley took the time to absorb the information presented to them.

Moore got up from his seat, paced around the room for a bit and then directed his attention to the group. "So…after you got the nanny to get Beckah out the house and you got the clothes buried what happened next?"

Lucas fixed his lips to speak but couldn't seem to get his words out. Nathan, noticing his brother struggling, spoke up. "Luke he…was still adamant about taking the blame. He just…felt as if there was no other solution. The gun, as you know, had a silencer on it but…with all the commotion and shouting going on amongst us that it was only a matter of minutes before the neighbors would be calling you guys see to what was up at the house and that if he didn't just confess that me, Haley and Brooke could possibly go down along with him for something that we didn't do and he didn't want that for us. But we obviously didn't want that for him either…so we argued about it…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Just get the hell out of here and give me the damn gun Nathan!"Lucas yelled out to his brother._

"_No!" Nathan shouted back, as he emptied the cartridge and tossed the remaining couple of bullets out the living room window. "I know you want to protect Beckah and we all want to protect her too, but there has to be another way of doing that! One that doesn't involve you confessing to murdering Peyton!"_

"_There isn't!" He cried out, trying to reach for the gun. "So give it to me!"_

_The two struggled for control over the gun and, upon hearing the sound of police cars coming from afar, the struggle intensified and Brooke and Haley decided to intervene. _

"_You two need to stop!" Brooke screamed out as she tried to halt the brothers' fighting._

_Haley on the other hand took a gentler approach, placing her hand over Lucas's and stared deeply into his tear stricken eyes. "Peyton w—would… NEVER want you to…confess to this Lucas. She wouldn't want that."_

_He stared into Haley's eyes for a moment before a sudden gush of tears escaped from his own. Lucas then let go of his hold on the gun and collapsed down to the floor. He inched himself toward Peyton's lifeless body and buried his face into his hands._

_Nathan, Haley and Brooke looked sadly upon their heartbroken friend, wishing that there was something that they could do to ease his pain, but knowing there wasn't. They quickly redirected their attention back on to each other_

_Brooke began vigorously wiping away the tears from her bloodshot ridden eyes. "W—what are going to do? The cops are…g—going to be walking through that door any minute."_

_Nathan looked at the gun in his hand and sighed. "There's no way they'll ever be able to figure out that Beckah was here and the only sort of case they'd be able to…m—make against us would be based just on circumstantial evidence because no one saw us do anything."_

"_So what do we do?" Haley asked her husband._

"_We say nothing." He stated quietly. Nathan then walked over to Lucas and bent down beside him. "And we admit to nothing, okay? We admit to nothing…"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So the evasiveness, the…talking in circles—"

"Was my idea of trying to protect everyone." Nathan interrupted. He sighed and then continued speaking. "My stupid idea…"

Moore took a seat back at the table beside Riley and the two sat together in silence for a long while as they absorbed all of the information that they had just heard.

Eventually Moore got up and directed his attention to the four friends. "There's some…paperwork and such that needs to be taken care of and when it's all finished, you all will be free to go. For good."

"And what about my daughter?" Lucas asked as he stood up and stared into Moore's eyes.

Moore stood staring back at Lucas for a long while until finally telling him, "You'll be able to take her home with you today but even though she's so young and had been clearly traumatized because of Julian I…can't ignore her confession. I still have to follow protocol. What happens next isn't really going to be up to me but our DA office. But I will promise you that I will do everything that I can to try and ensure that she isn't charged—"

"That's not good enough." Lucas said cutting him off. "I need complete assurance."

Moore sighed. "I'm sorry but…I can't…guarantee that."

An angry Lucas walked away from the table and took out his frustration by yelling and punching one of the interrogation room walls. Haley and Brooke got up from their seats, headed over toward Lucas and tried to comfort him as best as they could while Nathan sat, staring blankly at the empty wall in front of him on the other side of the room.

Moore sighed again and then motioned for Riley to get up and follow him into a corner in the opposite side of the room.

"This is all so sad." Moore whispered out to him.

Riley slowly nodded his head in agreement, though it looked like his mind was elsewhere.

Moore ran a hand through his hair. "I need to go fill out some paperwork and we both need to talk to Colleen. I think she's here now actually so we should probably meet up with her now before she has to leave for court or something."

Riley once again slowly nodded his head. "Okay, I'll…meet up with you in a minute."

Moore nodded and exited the interrogation room.

Riley then made his way over toward the other side of the room where Lucas stood with Brooke and Haley.

"Lucas, I need to talk to you for a minute alone."

Lucas stared at him peculiarly for a moment before nodding.

Riley led Lucas out of the interrogation room, locked the door behind him and led him down a hallway.

"Where are we going?" Lucas asked him. "What's this about? We all already told you everything."

Riley nodded. "You have but there's something that's…bothering me. We'll talk more once we get to our psych play area where Beckah is."

Lucas eyed him curiously, but continued to follow him.

After a few minutes the two finally reached the psych area where they found Colleen, the ADA, talking with the psychiatrist, Dr. Hayes, along with Riley's wife Kate outside of the playroom where Beckah sat coloring.

"Kate, I didn't know you'd be here." Riley said to his wife. "What's going on?"

"Col and Liz had a couple of questions for me about the examination I conducted on Beckah." Kate said to him as she handed the file in her hands over to Colleen.

"Were you able to find any evidence that could be used against Julian?" Lucas asked Kate.

Kate sighed. "Nothing conclusive."

"And due to the fact that your daughter won't talk I…I can't prosecute him." Colleen added. "I'm so sorry but—"

"Julian's going to get away with raping my daughter." Lucas stated coldly.

Colleen sighed and repeated once again, "I'm sorry."

Lucas's eyes grew devilish, but he just stood there quietly and said nothing.

The group stood in silence for a minute before Riley finally spoke. "Colleen, Moore told me he wanted to speak with you."

The redhead nodded. "I'll head over to his office now."

As Colleen headed down the hallway Riley redirected his attention toward Dr. Hayes. "Liz, Lucas needs to talk with Beckah, is it alright if we can go in and see her?"

Dr. Hayes nodded. "Sure, go on in."

Riley nodded. "Okay, I'll see you guys in a little while."

Dr. Hayes nodded, opened up the observation room door for Lucas and Riley and then she and Kate headed down the hallway together.

Once he saw that the two female doctors were out of earshot, Riley turned his attention to Lucas and said to him quietly. "I'm having an issue with two parts of your story, the first being your front door. You said it was unlocked."

Lucas nodded. "It was."

"And you don't find that strange?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lucas shook his head no. "I unfortunately have a…really bad tendency of forgetting to lock doors."

Riley nodded. "Okay so let's say that you did forget to lock it when you left. That…doesn't explain how Beckah got your gun in the first place. I mean I'm sure you don't just have it lying around where you're seven and six years old can have access to it."

Lucas shook his head. "No, of course not. I keep it locked away in a small safe…that's password protected and far out of their reach."

"So how could Beckah have gotten to it?"

Lucas pondered long and hard before finally answering. "I don't know I…hadn't really thought about it until." He pauses for a moment before coming to a realization. "Peyton…she knew the code to unlock it. But I don't get why she'd…"

He let his voice trail off and Riley decided then to speak up. "I believe that you and the others told me everything that you know about the night that Peyton died but…I still think there's more to this story than either of us know."

Riley paused for a moment before continuing. "Beckah's the only one that knows the whole truth but…aside from her outburst today she hasn't really spoken in days to anyone except you. So…I need you to go into that room, talk to her and get her to tell you exactly what happened that night in her own words."

Lucas stared at Riley for a long while before eventually brushing pass him and entering into the room.

Riley stood by the doorway as he watched Lucas make his way over to Beckah.

Lucas sat down in a chair beside his daughter. "Hi honey."

Beckah placed her orange crayon down on the table and looked up at her father. "Hi daddy."

Lucas smiled softly at his little girl and then stared down at her drawing, a picture of what appeared to be her and Peyton sitting down together in a rocking chair.

"It's a picture of me and mommy." Beckah said to him as she began growing teary-eyed. "I really miss her."

Lucas picked Beckah up, sat her down on his lap and let her bury her face into his chest. "I miss her too."

"It's…all…m—my fault." Beckah said to him quietly in between sniffles. "She's dead because…o—of me. I…I…I shouldn't have let her…"

She let her voice trail off and Lucas quickly lifted the little girl's face off of his chest and stared deeply into her green eyes. "You shouldn't have let her do what?"

Beckah said nothing and instead just let the tears that had been welling up in her eyes fall down her cheeks.

"Honey, you have to tell me what you mean." Lucas pleaded to his daughter. "Please…talk to me."

Beckah sat quietly for a long while, before finally rubbing her eyes, taking in a deep breath and beginning to speak, "I…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_It's…because of the way you twitch your nose like a little bunny whenever you smell something you don't like."_

_Lucas eyed Peyton curiously, but remained quiet._

_She spoke again. "Because instead of killing spiders or any other creepy crawlers you let them free outside."_

_It suddenly became clear to Lucas what Peyton was doing and he joined in. "Because…when you see someone trip, although you'll probably laugh at them at first, you're always the first one to reach out a hand to help them up."_

_Beckah stirred, but did not turn around._

_Peyton took in a deep breath and added another one. "Because even though you'd rather have your hair short, you're growing it out so you can donate it to locks of love."_

"_Because of the cute little way you pout your lips when you don't get your way and because…like your mother…you're an amazing artist."_

_Peyton smiled softly at Lucas and then redirected her attention to Beckah. "Because…you convinced your Daddy and I to rescue our dogs from a shelter instead of buying them from a pet store."_

_Lucas leaned in closer to his daughter and spoke. "Because…you promised Keith that you would always be there to help him if he ever needed you to."_

_Peyton inched closer to her as well and said to her. "Beckah…we love you for all those reasons and many more. We love you…for being YOU. We have since the moment we first laid our eyes on you and we always will. There is NOTHING that you could ever say, do, be or confess—"_

"_That would ever make us love you less." Lucas finished._

_The two stared at their daughter for a long while, waiting to see if she would respond but the little girl did not turn around to face her parents, remained silent and stared aimlessly at her bedroom wall._

_Lucas shook his head and sighed. He then watched a distraught Peyton try her best to keep her composure._

_She wiped away her tears, got up from off Beckah's bed, brushed some loose strains of hair from the little girl's cheek and kissed her. "G—goodnight sweetie."_

_Peyton then hurried out of the room._

_Lucas tried hard to blink back his own tears as he kissed his daughter goodnight, turned off her bedroom light and exited Beckah's room. _

_Beckah lied very quietly and still in her bed. Soon the tears that had been building up in her eyes began to slowly fall down her face._

_She sat up in the bed and stared blankly into the darkness. After a long while of thinking, Beckah wiped her eyes, got out of bed and exited her room._

_She headed downstairs and walked into the living room where she found her mother staring aimlessly out the window._

_Upon hearing the pitter patter of little feet Peyton turned around and found her daughter standing before her. _

_Beckah took in a deep breath and sputtered out, "It's b—because you…pretend to like my salty cookies."_

_Peyton instantly started to grow teary-eyed. She bent down to her little girl's eyelevel and fixed her mouth to speak, but Beckah began talking once more._

"_Because you let me throw paint at the walls…because instead of reading me bedtime stories like other mommies you play me a bedtime song and we sing together. B—because you stay up with me all day and night when I'm sick and take care of me."_

_Beckah paused for a moment to rub her tear-stricken eyes and then continued. "I…I love you mommy. And I…I know you love me." She then put her arms around Peyton and hugged her tightly._

"_I do!" Peyton said as she returned her daughter's hug and burst into tears. "I love you so much."_

_The two hugged for a little while longer before Beckah broke away from the embrace. "And you…y—you would never let anybody hurt me, would you?" She asked in between sniffles._

_Peyton began vigorously shaking her head. "Never…I would never. But Beckah, why would you ask me that? Has someone hurt you?"_

_The little girl fixed her mouth to speak, but instead just bit her lip and remained silent._

"_Beckah…honey, you have to tell me." Peyton said as she stared deeply into her little girl's emerald green eyes. "Has someone been hurting you?"_

_Beckah stood silently for a long while before finally bursting into tears and nodding. "Y—yes…"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You told your mother about Julian?" Lucas asked as he let the tears welling up in his eyes.

Beckah shook her head up and down. "Yeah…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_I'm s—so…sorry Beckah!" a devastated Peyton told her daughter in between tears as they rocked together gently in the rocking chair by the living room window. "I didn't know…If I had I…I NEVER would have let me near you! I w—would have protected you…"_

_Peyton pulled Beckah closer to her and whispered into her little girl's ear, "Julian will never hurt you again Beckah. I promise. I will do…w—whatever it takes to make sure of that, okay?"_

_Beckah said nothing, but nodded her head softly._

_Just then the two were blinded by a set of headlights from what appeared to be a familiar car._

_Peyton's eyes widened in horror as she came to realize who's car she had spotted outside the house. _

_She instantly sat up, placed Beckah down onto the floor and guided the little girl out of the living room and into a nearby closet._

"_Beckah I want you to stay in here." Peyton said to her sternly. "No matter what you hear you stay in here until I come out and get you, do you understand?"_

_A frightened Beckah nodded and Peyton quickly shut the closet door._

_She quickly exits the area and as soon as she does Beckah slightly cracks open the closet door._

_Beckah watches as she hears the front door of the house rip open._

"_You've got a HELL of a lot of nerve barging into this house Julian!" Peyton screamed out as she ripped off her engagement ring and threw it at him. "NOW GET OUT!"_

_Julian shook his head and slammed the door behind. "Not until I find out how long my fiancé has been sleeping with her ex-husband!"_

"_And how would you know what I've been doing, huh?!" She yelled out. "You've been stalking me?!"_

"_For the last hour or so I have and good thing I did or I might never have found out what a lying slut you truly are!" Julian chuckled evilly. "How dare you lead me on for so damn long!?"_

_Peyton raised her eyebrows in shock and face turn red with anger and disdain. "How dare I?! HOW DARE YOU LAY YOUR HANDS ON MY DAUGHTTER!?"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about." Julian stated firmly, though highly unconvincingly._

"_DON'T YOU PLAY DUMB WITH ME JULIAN!" Peyton screamed out. "BECKAH TOLD ME EVERYTHING YOU DID TO HER!"_

"_Is that so?!" Julian asked, as he began scanning around the house. "Then she must be here somewhere…oh Beckah! Come out come out wherever you—"_

_Julian's words were interrupted by a slap from Peyton._

"_IF YOU DON'T GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS HOUSE AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL YOU!"_

"_You don't have the balls." _

"_No?" Peyton spat out angrily. She then hurried into the living room, headed for Lucas's hidden safe, opened it up with the secret code and pulled out the gun._

_Julian chased after Peyton. "What are you…"_

_Peyton pointed the gun at him. "GET OUT!"_

_Julian stood in place, not moving, but as he saw Peyton about to cock the gun he lunged toward her and tried to rip the gun from her hands. The two struggled for a bit before Julian finally gained control of the gun and then shot Peyton in the stomach._

_The gun dropped to the floor and a shocked Julian stepped and watched as Peyton grabbed her profusely bleeding stomach and healed over onto the living room floor. She attempted to utter something, but didn't have the strength. Her eyes then closed and she was gone._

_A panic-stricken Julian began slowly backing away from Peyton's lifeless and as he did accidently knocked into Beckah, who had slipped out of the closet once the two adults had exited into the living room and watched the entire scene go down._

_Julian quickly managed to compose. He then bent down in front of the frightened little girl, staring into her devastated, tear filled eyes and said to her, "You tell anyone and you'll be sorry."_

_He then quickly fled out of the house, slamming the door behind him._

_A hysterical Beckah immediately ran over to Peyton and bent down beside her. She then began shaking her hard._

"_Mommy, get up!" Beckah cried out. "PLEASE, GET UP!"_

_Beckah kept on shaking and pleading for a little while longer before realizing that it was pointless and that her mother was dead._

"_It's all my fault!" Beckah cried out, as she laid her head down on Peyton's chest and began to sob uncontrollably. "It's…a—all my…f—fault…"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Recalling the devastating events that had transpired had caused Beckah to breakdown and she quickly burst into tears and buried her face into Lucas's chest.

A genuinely shocked Lucas cradled his little tightly in his arms.

"It's not…y—your fault Beckah." He said to her as he tried his best to keep his composure, though the anger within him was more than obvious as his face grew redder and redder. "NONE of this was your fault and don't you ever think otherwise."

After he sat comforting Beckah for a bit longer he got up and sat her down in the chair beside his.

He stared at her for a long while before finally telling her, "I love you. You and your brother. I love you guys so much. Don't you ever forget that, you hear me?"

Beckah nodded. "I won't."

Lucas nodded, gave his little girl a quick kiss on the forehead and then jetted toward the door and once he reached it he froze in place and stared at Riley.

"Lucas, what did she tell you?"

Lucas remained quiet for a long while before finally opening his mouth to speak.

"Julian killed Peyton." An angry Lucas responded bitterly. "He killed her."

Lucas then quickly brushed past Riley and began running down the hall.

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch." Lucas muttered to himself as he ran. "I'm going to kill him…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A shocked Riley stood very still as he took a moment to absorb what Lucas had just told him. He then quickly ran over to Beckah, grabbed her hand and hurried out of the playroom.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Within moments Lucas found himself by the secretarial desk in the front of the police station where he found not only the secretary but Nathan, Haley and Brooke standing quietly together while Moore, Kate, Dr. Hayes and Colleen where in a deep discussion with one another nearby.

His unexpected, pronounced presence caught them all by guard and they all redirected their attention onto him.

Just as Lucas is about to speak, he begins to feel a throbbing pain in his head. The pain is so bad that he shuts his eyes and clutches his head in agony.

A concerned Haley ran over to him. "Luke, are you okay!?"

As the pain began to subside Lucas slowly opened up his eyes and gasped in horror when he came face to face with Haley.

He scanned her figure and saw blood splattered all over her clothes.

An alarmed Lucas slowly began walking away from her. He then scanned around the room at everyone else and noticed similar blood splatters on Moore, Brooke and Nathan, though less extensive ones, as well as Riley and Beckah, who had just entered into the area with Riley only a few moments beforehand.

In addition to some small blood splatter, Beckah's clothing appeared to be tattered as well which alarmed him as well but nothing shocked him more than the massive amounts of blood he saw on Riley and his wife Kate. Those two, more than anyone else, were covered in it.

"Why is everyone covered in blood?!" Lucas pondered aloud.

Haley eyed him peculiarly and looked around at the equally confused others in the room. "We…we're not."

Lucas looked around the room once more, then closed his eyes tightly and after a minute opened them back up, looked around at everyone again and saw that all the blood was gone.

Kate quickly walked over to him. "Lucas, how about you let me look you over?"

Lucas stared at her for a moment before declining her offer by instead snatching the car keys he had spotted in Haley's hands and running out the front door.

"What the hell did the two of you talk about Riley?!" Moore asked his officer. "Dammit we need to bring him back!" He then jetted out of the office after Lucas.

Riley's face instantly turned white and zombie-like. "We will." He then looked down and over to his left at Beckah. "We will."

He then quickly handed the little girl off to Haley. Riley then looked over at his wife, took her hand into his and he and Kate ran out behind Moore after Lucas, along with Nathan, Brooke, Haley and Beckah following closely behind them.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"First he hurts my daughter and then he kills Peyton?!" Lucas cried out from behind the wheel of Nathan's car as he drove. "That son of a bitch is not going to get away with what he's done!"

Lucas quickly made a left hand turn onto his street, as he needed to get on it to get onto the highway, but then suddenly slowed down after spotting a figure standing in the middle of the street.

Lucas soon recognized the individual as his kids' babysitter Maya.

He pulled over to the side of road, a few feet from his home, hopped out and stared at the zombie-like young woman staring at something that, whatever it was, Lucas himself could not see. Even weirder, Maya seemed so transfixed on what she was looking at that she didn't even see Lucas standing nearby.

After a minute or two of complete silence Lucas spoke up. "Maya, w—what are you doing out here in the rain?"

Maya said nothing, for a long while as she just continued staring off into space before finally whispering out the words, "Don't give up. Do not give up."

Lucas eyed her strangely and then all of a sudden was hit by another powerful, debilitating headache.

Once the pain had subsided he found that Maya was nowhere in sight and that the heavy rain that had been occurring for days had subsided as well. He then heard a familiar voice coming from his left so he turned around and saw a crying Beckah run right past him, yelling.

"Snickers!" Beckah cried out as she ran over to a nearby storm sewage drain and picked up her chocolate, caramel colored kitty. "You're not…s—suppose to be out here."

Just then the rain started up again and Beckah began making her way back to the house, only to find that she couldn't because her little foot had gotten stuck in the drain, just as the rain started up again.

Lucas started to run over to help her but soon remembered that he had just left Beckah at the police station and that he couldn't really be seeing her.

He closed his eyes and after a few moments opened them back up and found himself completely alone on the street and that Beckah had vanished.

A very freaked out Lucas began breathing heavily and sat down on the curb. "I…I don't understand. W—what the heck is going on?"

"_Lucas…"_

Upon hearing the very familiar voice, Lucas immediately jumped up and began looking around. "P—Peyton?!"

He began walking around frantically, not knowing if the voice was merely coming from inside his head or from somewhere else and desperately trying to figure it out. "Peyton, are you really—"

Lucas let his voice trail off as he started to feel something in his throat. He covered his mouth with his right hand and started coughing.

Once his coughing had finally ceased he pulled his hand away and became horrified after noticing the blood he had just coughed up onto his hand.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**So there it is! I hope you all liked it! So…this whole time Lucas had been trying to protect Beckah and Nathan, Brooke and Haley were in return trying to protect Lucas. But unbeknown to all of them, Beckah was never the one who killed Peyton! It was Julian! She kept saying things like it was all her fault and that Peyton was dead because of her because she truly felt that to be the case. Beckah did after all end up telling her mother about Julian and Julian, who it seems had been following Peyton the night of the reunion, came into the house, got into a fight with Peyton about Beckah obviously and then as well all know disaster struck; Julian shoots Peyton and then flees, but not without making sure to first threaten Beckah into keeping her mouth shut about the whole thing, feeling as though she would because he's had her under his control for so long. Beckah finally tells all of this to a shocked Lucas and he appears is determined to kill Julian and to make him pay for what he's done to his family. **

**But just as he's about to embark on his endeavor weird things start to happen. Lucas is starting to get really bad headaches, is starting to see strange things, (i.e. seeing everyone covered in blood, Beckah being caught in a drain, his babysitter standing in the middle of the road), he's coughing up blood and then lastly, he begins to hear Peyton's voice. **

**So…what the heck is going on? Is Lucas so consumed with grief that he's going crazy? Is he making himself ill or is he coughing up blood for a non psychological reason? Despite these "small" occurrences, Lucas is still very vengeful and determined to get Julian. Will he ever come face to face with the man that ruined and changed his family's life forever and seek his revenge? If he does, will he come out of his confrontation alive? Will Lucas win his battle against Julian? Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. Maybe a struggle against Julian isn't even the one he should be focusing on. Hmm.**

**Coming Up…**

**Lucas is a hit by more head pains and unfamiliar, yet at the same time very familiar, memories of his life.**

**Lucas will come to a startling realization**

**A devastating accident**

Oh and FYI ignore previous previews…I can't remember where I was trying to go when I wrote them at the time because it had been so long since I had looked at the fic and updated.


	21. Look Closer, Part I

**Look Closer, Part I**

A/N: Okay so…here's the next chapter! It's kind of short but…I wanted to give you all something. So here it is...I hope you like it!

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"_Lucas…"_

Upon hearing the very familiar voice, Lucas immediately jumped up and began looking around. "P—Peyton?!"

He began walking around frantically, not knowing if the voice was merely coming from inside his head or from somewhere else and desperately trying to figure it out. "Peyton, are you really—"

Lucas let his voice trail off as he started to feel something in his throat. He covered his mouth with his right hand and started coughing.

Once his coughing had finally ceased he pulled his hand away and became horrified after noticing the blood he had just coughed up onto it.

Lucas stared at the blood in his hand for a long while before wiping it on his shirt and then making his way to Haley's car.

Just as he was about to open up the car door he noticed that, once again, Maya was standing in the middle of the street staring out aimlessly, only this time she now stood with the psychiatrist from the police station, Dr. Hayes.

Lucas ran over to the two women and once he reached them heard the psychiatrist whisper out. "Those poor things."

Lucas eyed Dr. Hayes curiously for a long while, before slowing making his way back toward the car.

He hopped in, sat down and shut the door. He then closed his eyes, briefly rubbed his temples, opened his eyes back up, started the car up and drove off down the road, still determined as ever to get to Julian.

"That son-of-a-bitch is going to get everything that he deserves." Lucas said to himself as he maneuvered the car onto the highway ramp. "He's gonna…"

Lucas's voice trailed off and his mouth opened in shock as he saw the highway scenery change around him. Lucas slowly stopped the car, put it in park and hopped out of the car.

His jaw dropped in shock as he looked around and realized that he was back on his now very deserted home street.

"I…I d—don't understand." a confused Lucas said to himself as he looked around his surroundings. "This…doesn't make any sense…"

Lucas let his voice trail off and he slowly collapsed onto the wet road. He then curled up into a ball and let the tears that had been welling up in his eyes fall, though one would hardly be able to notice amongst all the rain.

"I…I just want to kill him." Lucas whispered to himself. "But I don't know how. I don't know how, I don't know what I'm doing and…I…I don't know what's going on. I—I'm going crazy and…"

He paused for a moment, wiped his eyes and the continued. "Peyton and I we…w—wasted so much...time…being angry and bitter with each other. We ALL did and now…she's gone and…l—life will never be the same again. I'd do…anything to have a second chance with her…to live the life that the two of us were supposed to live…o—one filled with happiness and love for each other…w—with all the family and friends we took for granted."

Lucas stopped talking and just sat very still on the soaking wet ground, letting the rain fall down on to him. He sat there in silence for a long while when out of nowhere the car radio turned on by itself and began blasting a bunch of familiar voices.

Beckah's voice is the first one he hears. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

"SHE'S DEAD ISN'T SHE!?" Keith shrieked.

He then heard a bloodcurdling scream from Haley. "AAHHHH!!!!!"

"Yes 143!" he hears a panicky Brooke shout. "HURRY!"

"I'm here to help." Lucas hears Riley say very calmly. "I'm here to help."

"YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Nathan yells out angrily. "WHAT THE HELL—"

"I—I didn't mean to hurt…" Lucas heard Julian cry out through the car radio. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

"YES YOU DID!" a heated Lucas shouted in response to Julian's words as he popped up from off the ground. "BECAUSE YOU'RE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT AND I—"

"I didn't mean it."

Lucas turned to his left and saw a distraught Julian, and Julian alone, sitting down in the middle of the road.

"I'm not supposed to take lives..." Julian says very quietly, barely above a whisper, looking blankly out into the distance in front of him, not recognizing Lucas's presence before him. "I'm supposed to save them."

Lucas eyed Julian curiously and as he slowly made his way over to him the entire scenery around him began to change and he suddenly found himself standing in a nearly empty waiting room inside of a hospital where he saw himself standing at the receptionist desk filling out paperwork and his kids goofing off in some nearby chairs.

_Lucas put down his pen, glanced over to his left and gave a stern glare at his kids, letting them know that they needed to stop acting up and behave._

_The look did the trick and Keith and Beckah instantly stopped goofing around and Lucas then redirected his attention back onto his paperwork._

Lucas scratched his head in confusion. "W—what is going…"

_Just then Julian entered into the waiting area with a pretty curly haired blonde by his side._

_Lucas briefly glanced up at them, the blonde catching his attention because of her startling resemblance to Peyton but once quickly realizing that it wasn't his ex-wife he refocused his attention back onto filling out his paperwork._

_"You really shouldn't be working another overnight shift tonight." Kate said to him as the two walked over to the other side of the front desk. "You like, never sleep."_

_Julian placed the chart he had been carrying on the desk and began filling out some information. "Yeah well Melissa's engagement ring is going to pay for itself and since first year residents like myself hardly make any money, I don't mind being a little tired for a while if it means I'll be debt free."_

_Kate slowly nodded. "Yeah well still…try and get some sleep when you can. Don't need you falling asleep in the OR, at a staff meeting, behind the wheel—"_

_A page from Kate's pager suddenly went off. She picked it up and looked at it. "I gotta go."_

_"Alright I'll see you later." _

_Kate nodded and then hurried off down the hall and Julian continued to fill out the chart before him._

_"Ok I'm finished." Lucas said as he handed the papers over to the lady at the front desk. "I'm all set now?"_

_She shook her head. "Dr. Friedman wants to ask you a few questions before deciding whether or not to switch your HCM meds."_

_Lucas sighed, looked over at Keith and Beckah and then back at the front desk lady. "But I thought I was only going to have to be here for a minute. I didn't know I was going to have to talk with him. What should I do with—"_

_"I can keep an eye out on them for you." She said cutting him off._

_Lucas nodded. "Okay thanks."_

_He then made his way over to Keith and Beckah, bent down to their eyelevel and said to them quietly, "I'll be back in a few minutes. You guys behave while I'm gone."_

_The two nodded their heads. "We will." They said together in unison._

_Lucas nodded, stood up and then made his way to a nearby elevator._

_Julian still stood by the front desk, diligently writing, while the front desk lady began typing on the computer keyboard in front of her, looking up every now and then at Keith and Beckah._

_Keith reached his hand into Beckah's baggy of green grapes. _

_"I bet you can't do this." He said as he tossed a grape up into the air and caught it in his mouth._

_"Yes I can!" Beckah exclaimed as she tossed a grape into the air, caught it in her mouth and began chewing. "See!"_

_Keith made a face at her. He then took another grape from her baggy, tossed it high into the air and just before it was about to enter into his mouth Beckah leaned over in front of him and caught in hers._

_"Hey!" Keith said, as he hit her in her arm. He rolled his eyes, picked up the game consul that he had sat down on his lap and began playing on it._

_Keith's hit caused Beckah to get the grape logged into her throat and she began gagging._

_Keith looked over at her and gasped in fright. "Help! My sister's choking!"_

_Julian and the front desk lady directed their attention to the kids, seeing that Beckah was struggling to breath and then quickly became unconscious. _

_Julian dropped his pen and hurried over to the little girl. He then quickly sat down in the seat next to her, put her face down across his lap, and then placed his left fist just below where the ribs and breastbone meet. Then with his right hand he gave a solid whack to her back, right in between the shoulder blades._

_The forceful hit caused the logged grape to fly out of the little girl's mouth, yet she remained unconscious._

_"Code blue!" Julian shouted out to the front desk lady, who hastily flipped a switch on the wall and picked up the phone beside her. _

_Julian sat Beckah up and then laid her down onto the floor. He then lifted up her chin, tilted her head back and listened for signs of breathing, quickly coming to the realization that she wasn't._

_Julian held onto Beckah's chin with his left hand and then took his right pointer finger and thumb, pinched her nose and blew two forceful breaths into the little girl's mouth. He then placed his right hand on her forehead, to ensure that her head was tilted back, and started a round of chest compressions with his left hand._

_Once he had completed 30 compressions he rechecked her airway and then once again blew two more breaths into Beckah's mouth, just as Lucas came walking out of the elevator._

_Lucas's jaw dropped at the sight of Julian performing CPR on his young daughter and he quickly made his way over to them._

_"What happened?!" a visibly shaken Lucas asked his son._

_"She was c—choking on a…grape…" Keith stuttered out. "And then stopped…b—breathing!" _

_Just then a team arrived from down the hall, right when Julian's latest set of chest compression caused Beckah to regain her breath and consciousness. Julian stepped back as Beckah started coughing and Lucas rushed over to her side. _

_"Beckah, honey, are you okay?" He asked as he bent down and hugged her._

_Beckah stopped coughing and nodded. "Yeah."_

_Lucas then redirected his attention toward Julian. "Y—you saved her. Thank you for saving my daughter."_

_Keith squinted his eyes and read the name tag on Julian's lab coat. "Dr. Baker's a hero!"_

_Julian shook his head. "No, none of that Dr. Baker stuff, you can call me Julian. And I'm no hero…I was just doing my job and my job is to save lives._

_"Thank you." Lucas reiterated to Julian. "Thank you so much."_

_Julian nodded. "You're welcome."_

Lucas stood in shock, not sure what to make of the scene that had just transpired before his eyes. Just then, the hospital room scenery changed around him and he found himself standing in the middle of his street in front of Julian, who was still sitting there in the middle of the road, with a slight gash on his forehead, rocking back and forth.

"I'm not supposed to take lives." He repeated once more. "I'm supposed to save them…"

Lucas stood staring at Julian for a long while, then closed his eyes and began trying to envision the murder scene Beckah had depicted…

"_You've got a HELL of a lot of nerve barging into this house Julian!" Peyton screamed out as she ripped off her engagement ring and threw it at him. "NOW GET OUT!"_

_Julian shook his head and slammed the door behind. "Not until I find out how long my FIANCE has been sleeping with her ex-husband!"_

Lucas then found his mind drifting to the hospital scene he had just witnessed…

_"Yeah well, Melissa's engagement ring isn't going to pay for itself."_

Lucas's then refocused his mind onto the killing…

"_IF YOU DON'T GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS HOUSE AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL YOU!"_

"_You don't have the balls." _

"_No?" Peyton spat out angrily. She then hurried into the living room, headed for Lucas's hidden safe, opened it up with the secret code and pulled out the gun._

_Julian chased after Peyton. "What are you…"_

_Peyton pointed the gun at him. "GET OUT!"_

_Julian stood in place, not moving, but as he saw Peyton about to cock the gun he lunged toward her and tried to rip the gun from her hands. The two struggled for a bit before Julian finally gained control of the gun and then shot Peyton in the stomach._

_The gun dropped to the floor and a shocked Julian stepped and watched as Peyton grabbed her profusely bleeding stomach and healed over onto the living room floor. She attempted to utter something, but didn't have the strength. Her eyes then closed and she was gone._

Lucas then found his mind wandering back to the hospital scene…

_Julian shook his head. "No, none of that Dr. Baker stuff, you can call me Julian. And I'm no hero…I was just doing my job and my job is to save lives._

Just then Lucas's head started to throb. He held it with his hands for a while, until the pain finally subsided, and then redirected his attention onto Julian.

Lucas walked up closer to him. He clenched his fist and as he slowly lifted it up to clobber Julian he found himself unable to do it.

Lucas stared deeply into Julian's eyes and said very quietly to him. "You…you saved her…"

He unclenched his fist and stepped away from Julian.

"You saved her." Lucas repeated once more. "Oh…oh my God I remember that! I remember…"

Lucas started shaking his head. "But…you killed Peyton! And you ABUSED my daughter! This…this doesn't make any sense...NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE!"

Lucas continued to slowly step away from Julian and as he did saw Maya and Dr. Hayes suddenly appear at of nowhere from behind him.

Lucas stared at the two women for a moment before quickly running over toward the psychiatrist.

"I'm going crazy!" He yelled out to her. "You're a shrink! Please, please help me!"

Dr. Hayes ignored Lucas's plea and just continued to stare off into space.

Lucas shook his head and tried again. "Please don't ignore me. Say something, anything!"

Dr. Hayes remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "Those poor things."

Lucas threw his arms up into the air. "What are you talking about?! What…"

Lucas let his voice trail off. He then stepped away from the psychiatrist who, along with Maya and Julian disappeared into thin air.

Lucas closed his eyes and lifted his head up and looked up at the dark, cloudy sky, letting the rain fall down onto his face, and began pleading.

"I need you now Peyton." Lucas said aloud. "And I need you more than ever…"

_"I'm here Lucas."_

Lucas slowly opened up his eyes. "Where?"

_"I'm right here."_

Just then Lucas, though he didn't see a hand, felt a slight touch across his chest; a soft touch that caused his heart to fill within an immense amount of joy.

"I feel you." He said smiling. "I feel you. But I don't see you. I...I need to see you."

_"I'm here Lucas. I'm here. Just look closer. Look closer…"_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**So there it is! I hope you guys liked it! Anyways, what the heck is going on? Lucas is really losing his mind isn't he? So consumed with grief, anger and regret he seems to be losing grip on reality. He knows that Julian is this monster who abused his daughter and killed Peyton yet has the flashback to when Julian, a doctor, saved Beckah after she passed out from choking. He feels as though it really happened, but doesn't understand how that fits into anything he knows about Julian, his relationship with Peyton and the recent events that occurred. Doesn't help the fact that in his memory flashback Julian knew Riley's wife and appeared to be engaged to some woman other than Peyton. Lucas is hearing strange things (Peyton, the crazy radio shouts), seeing strange things (Julian, Maya and the shrink just standing in the middle of the road), and remembering strange things (Julian saving Beckah). Is he really going mad? Hmm…I don't know…I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out!**

**Coming Up…**

**"Wait a minute, who are you? What are you?" Riley asked looking at Kate.**

**Lucas continues to be plagued by familiar memories that don't make much sense**

**Lucas comes to a startling realization**

**A devastating accident, a flat line and a reunion (which may or may not occur in that particular order)**


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